I am glad people come to my site to read what I write. Every writer wants readers. I am no exception. Very few people support this site monetarily and I pay for it. Writing and journalism have changed significantly over the years. I was once paid for my work in newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. The Internet changed all that, even as many publications repost my work I receive not a penny. I am not complaining but simply stating a fact.
I believe in free speech, probably to a fault. So I let all commentators have their say. But not many comment on what I write, preferring to go off on tangents. I welcome criticism and commentary that addresses what I have written. I don’t think I am asking too much of readers to please make their comments pertinent to my articles and not some things they wish to find an audience for and are off-topic. I know these forms of commentaries are common at many sites, but I do not like them. I am considering closing shop here. Thanks.
Dear Edward,Hi again, sorry about my last comment where I said I wouldn’t keep posting on your blog. I was thinking that people who want change, who hope to see the US’s corrupt oligarchic government replaced by a humanist, worker-led, anti-war government, shouldn’t be sectarian, orthodox, or dogmatic. As Foucault pointed out, rulers are smart—they’ve been dividing societies into right-wing and left-wing, Black and white, rich and poor, and that’s how the wealthy elite maintain their power as the ruling class in most countries around the world.
Having said that, and since I’m not a dogmatic sectarian leftist but rather an eclectic, open-minded person willing to unite poor right-wingers and poor left-wingers, I’ll keep participating in your blog. In the comment section, I’ll make an effort to stay focused on the specific article..
Thanks, and remember, JFK, Martin Luther King, Jefferson, and Malcolm X are still alive!
Just honor a reasonable request, KCA, and consider creating your own blog. I find the volume of you replies way cumbersome to spend much time reading. Other readers will appreciate your consideration.
Thank you Edward for all your efforts. You would be missed by myself at the very least.
Dear Edward and friends:You’re right, as the owner of this website, you wouldn’t want it filled with spam. However, I believe most people who post comments unrelated to a specific article don’t do so with bad intentions. We all value freedom—freedom of speech, freedom of ideas, and freedom in how we express our views. That’s why I think it’s not healthy to ban someone from the site just for making the mistake of posting something unrelated to the article.
I believe all knowledge and ideas aimed at challenging the corrupt, oligarchic U.S. government and its ruling class should be welcomed. Censoring people and creating an anti–freedom of speech dictatorship is hypocritical, especially when we all claim to oppose dictatorial governments like those of Bush Jr., Trump, or Maduro.
One of the main reasons of why i hate capitalist parties and socialist parties, capitalist states, and socialist states is because i have been embracing extreme freedom and anti-slavery, anti-control behaviour. Most people even wives are controlled by their husbands, workers are controlled by their bosses. And even rich people like Trump are slaves of their own economic class.
I agree that what you say is true, but I believe that censoring people for not focusing on your article doesn’t serve the cause of absolute liberty, which is what we all strive for.
I know spam or attempts to sell something should be banned, but I believe most comments, whether you agree with them or not, should be welcome.
That’s why I unsubscribed from most YouTube progressive, anti-Zionist, and anti-war channels, because many of them practice a form of dictatorial censorship. I’ve even stopped writing comments on leftist websites like The World Socialist Website, (http://www.wsws.org/ which is great but also exercises a kind of dictatorial control.
As someone who deeply values freedom, I don’t have a girlfriend, wife, or many friends due to my strongly anarchist nature. I’ll still read this blog because I enjoy your articles, but I wouldn’t want to post comments in a place where strict censorship and controls make me feel threatened.
That’s why I’ve decided to comment on anarchist platforms, where thoughts and ideas flow freely without any control.
Goodbye, my friends. Let’s hope we see a humanist, anti-war, workers’ government in the USA soon. God bless you, Edward, and friends.
I never said I would censor anyone and have never done so. I also don’t question anyone’s intentions, for I think all commentators are sincere. I am just asking that comments be germane to my posts; criticize me, whatever you want. We all need to learn from each other. But please don’t comment as if I didn’t write anything and you were writing in a vacuum. Try to show how your thoughts are connected to mine in some way, however tenuous the connection. Finally, I have never pushed for donations and realize some people are poor. and can’t afford anything. Everything I post is free and always will be.
Hi Ed, I think one of the things I see are people attempting to connect to others who ‘feel’ similarly in place of feeling alienated, which I actually think most people feel most often in this society that doesn’t value life beyond the individual contributing to an economic system that not everyone benefits from.
Perhaps it’s the feeling of relief one gets while someone unexpectedly meets up with an old close friend.
Thanks for your reply, Edward. From now on, I’ll make sure to read your articles carefully and stick to the specific topic. You’re right—comments should always be directly related to the article.
I hope you keep writing these essays, Ed … worse comes to worse, just disable comments for a while …
Ed,
Someday you will be recognized as a truly great writer, thinker, teacher, historian, literary figure and true crime forensic detective! Your ability to see through the surface to the true nature of power in America is astounding to me.
Thank you for explaining the JFK assassination, 9/11, and Covid and how they are connected to each other. Thank you for your deeply humane, ethical perspective and what the above listed crimes mean for us as Americans.
I am deeply grateful to you for telling me the truth. (I’m reading “At the Lost and Found” right now.)
Thank you.
Paul
Thank you, Edward. No-one would blame you. I recall you politely making this point some time ago, and nothing changed. As said in an earlier reply, one must wonder why a person who feels such an imperative need to broadcast his or her thoughts on myriads of issues doesn’t host a website of their own, rather than piggybacking on someone else’s.
You are one of the few writers who are worth reading who posts regular essays on the internet, which I consider an act of generosity.
Edward your writing is insightful and appreciated. Even saying that is an understatement.
When one hears a song one often thinks not so much of the artistry that went into making the song but rather how it makes one feel. At friend from Sri Lanka once told me, ‘People in the West think they are the song.’
One tends to engage in flights of fancy.
Yes it is somewhat disrespectful as a response to a well-crafted and thoughtful essay. And yes in these ‘days’ one does not often ‘show their manners.’ I’m guessing many of your readers wish to converse with you from a position of respecting you. ‘Hey, me too’ some people are saying.
For the ‘speech-makers’ one can only imagine how didactic they must be, exhausting everybody they know, so they go to work at any chosen site.
I have a WordPress blog & the dynamics these last few years, since the (cough) ‘pandemic’ have altered the engagement significantly. Not only have a large number of people simply fallen to the side but those who remain seem ‘different.’ I have amused myself looking at my ‘likes’ (a feature you do not have enabled) and seeing intelligent people hit that star button & ‘like’ ten posts in ten seconds. A posting that would take fifteen minutes to digest. Oh well.
I too pay to not show advertisements. Sometimes I wonder why.
In conclusion please let me say you are of course not a ‘blogger’ but an independent American thinker, author and font of intellectual & cultural knowledge. If you ‘wrapped it up’ it would be our loss.
What ‘changed all that’?
Ed, i’ve noticed for years how in general commenters “go off on tangents” and at length, and i’ve said to the screen ‘why doesn’t that person start they’re own website?!’ Perhaps you can have a comment word limit, because in fact it does take precious time for you to read the comments. In any case, i very much appreciate your posts, both the style of writing and the info/insights about topics many won’t touch. so hope you’ll continue while understanding that sometimes one has to figure if the time and effort makes it worth it, not just in a monetary sense. Blessings to you.
another idea is Substack which gets free and paid subscribers, and in my experience some good networking happens, including people reposting
Well Ed, whether there is a direct response to your commentaries or not, you are providing a site to exchange information that is not in our newspapers, not in the Bowdoin College Orient…(which is always censored by the way), that is not on most websites. This is very much appreciated that you are doing this. I’m too financially poor to pay for sites usage.
I’d like to think this post has brought about a process of introspection for everyone involved with this site. This includes you Ed.
You must ask why you want people to respond to what you say, write. Whatever you say, you can expect people, remind people of thoughts, feelings they have that is a result of what you say.
Jesuits were probably very strict and demanding certain specific responses from listeners. Professors might want/expect certain responses. Humans in general might not be exactly aligned with every detail though agree with a basic feeling/subject. This cannot, should not be a preaching/genuflecting relationship that politicians would enjoy. This might seem critical by me and I have had feedback from others that caused me to be alert to myself…a sort of jolt.
Everyone’s experiences might be very different, yet their might be a common ground, an understanding that could create a real community though this community is only shared through text from afar. Commune – communicate – community and the understanding we are different though care about and want community.
We could even get to know each other more intimately which is rare in this very sick, impersonal society. I say most people do not know the person sitting across at the dinner table!
Since i am very anarchist even in my thoughts i will quit writing in this blog. I don’t feel good when people hate or try to control my comments.
Strewth Ed, I don’t know whether to feel guilty, offended, accused, innocent or saddened.
Please don’t leave😌
I for one, always enjoy your writings.
PS, I’ve never made a cent from uploading my original songs on the WWW.