Voice and Michael Moore

This blog was originally written in an essay format. It began “Why be good? The imperative to act as we ought, rather than as we like, looms over our daily interactions, opinions about public policy, and many varieties of social and personal actions.” The essay comes as a reaction to a recent discussion with Nick about ethical relativism. I decided to change voice, and topic somewhat, to accommodate time demands, and possible audience. I still might publish the blog, but I didn't want my consistent ability to get bogged down in details to prevent me from getting something written.

Dez, a friend from High School, has been writing once a day in a blog for the past month. She recently explained that coming up with something to write on a daily basis can be difficult. I certainly sympathize. This is what motivated me to change my writing style from an essay format to something more informal. Coming up with new content on a consistent basis along with doing it in a more rigorous format can be a bit overwhelming. Additionally, few people want to read heady material regularly, daily or otherwise. So, in an effort to be more consistent with my blogs, and stay relateable to a broader audience, a narrative and somewhat schizophrenic blog is what I'm going with for the time being.

I recently watched Michael Moore's film Roger and Me. I went into the movie not expecting much, and getting much of what I expected. His films, while emotionally quite good, fail to make strong arguments for his positions. Roger and Me details the, more or less, mass exodus of Flint, Michigan after GM decides to move its plants from Flint to Mexico (Moore's claim). Moore holds the position that GM has an obligation to the people of Flint to provide jobs for those who lost work. The film mostly consists of him trying to talk with Roger Smith (the CEO of GM) and following the lives of the people of Flint as they went through the transition.

The problem is that Moore doesn't seem to understand that increased efficiencies in production (and thus more wealth over all) practically necessitates a smaller workforce in that industry. Its debatable whether GM's move out of Flint did make the company more efficient. But, this isn't a topic that Moore addresses in his film. He should have. A convincing case could be made against the move to Mexico. After all, more than likely, GM decided to make the move because they wouldn't have to pay the works as much and worker's rights aren't as well protected in the country (see Walmart). Ensuring that people make a living wage and are not abused are values that many people can get behind. Emotion works for some people. Me, not so much.

Rationally yours,

Ryan

Blog: Introduction

I don't consider myself a writer. Yet, I find myself writing in a blog, or journal when I get the free time, or writing when I need to work out a problem, personal or otherwise. For a time, I published my writing on myspace. For various reasons that account has fallen into disuse, though it still exists. Sometime ago, I started playing with the idea of publishing my writing once again. I have also been considering publishing videos on youtube to hopefully engage others in a larger debate. I don't know how committed I am to this project. In theory, since I write on a fairly consistent basis anyhow, I should, at the very least, be able to post online in place of writing in my journal. Video publishing is more tenuous due to some technological restrictions, and nervousness about the different format.

In the long term, it would be great to make a living as a writer. Discounting pay, the lifestyle of a writer has a lot of appeal. They can work from anywhere, and set their own hours. Popular writers have a fame that can be appealing. However, like musicians and other artists, there are far more who are never able to make a living in the market, than those who do. This is why, in part, I am working toward an engineering degree while pursuing this interest on the side. And in fact, many other writers (professors for example) work in other ways while still writing on the side.

I decided to go with blogger, rather than something like livejournal, or go back to myspace for aesthetic and practical reasons. First, blogger's page layout has a cleaner layout than livejournal, and is roughly comparable to myspace. I actually prefer the default setting in myspace to blogger, but myspace requires that those who wish to comment have accounts. Although many may still have myspace accounts, it is enough of a hassle for dissuade me from publishing on their site. I like the options that livejournal has, and the community that has grown up around the site. But, again, to my knowledge, commenters have an account with livejournal, and I don't like how the pages have been formatted. Finally, I have an email, and youtube account that are linked with the same name. This will hopefully make it easier for others to find me online.

My current plan is to publish something once a week that is roughly 500 words. For some reference, the word count of this post up to the words “500 words” is 411 words. This blogs content will mostly be about the various political, economic, and philosophical topics that are on my mind. I hope to try to keep the writing related to whatever is in the national discourse. I will probably foray into religious and ethical subjects. Time will tell, whether we want it to or not.

Till next time,

Ryan