Lessons Learned from 1,000+ Posts, or: The Philosophy of Blawgconomics

I recently published the 1,000th post to Blawgconomics. While that might not be a lot in the big scheme of the millions of blogs, microblogs, news sites etc. which are available to anyone with an internet connection, and while there have been some reposts, reprints and brief blurbs along the way, that is no mean feat for a site which is (mostly) tended to solely by yours truly and which is composed mostly of posts which require at least a little time and effort.

One might assume that, with that much writing under my belt, that there would be some unifying themes, that I might have developed a voice, that readers could point to certain issues and say that they are indicative of the positions I typically take on matters, whether they be political, legal or economic in nature. To some extent, I think that is probably true.

I tend to look at legal and political issues through an economic lens (though not as vociferously as, say, strict adherents to the Chicago School might). I tend to value the rule of law, but also minimalism when it comes to establishing laws. I tend to value personal freedom above forced obligations to society. I tend to value less regulation over more regulation. I tend to hold fairly closely to the values of libertarians (or classical liberals in the European nomenclature).

However, I haven't, I think (and probably to my detriment as far as page views are concerned) taken to relying upon sticking to any polarized side of a political spectrum. If Republicans are acting stupidly, I am happy to reserve as much venom for them as I do for Democrats, my more natural political enemies in many ways. If Congress is trampling on liberties, I don't care about assigning blame, I care that it is happening. I don't care if it is the military industrial complex bossing around D's or R's, I care about how it impacts my day-to-day life.

In addition to not sticking to any side of the aisle in matters I explore, I also think that the extent to which I have found myself susceptible to shifts in opinion over time, due to critical thought or (more often) the invaluable prompts of readers, has been fascinating. It is all fine and good for me to rant about personal responsibility when discussing whether the government should forgive student loan debt, but it is another matter entirely when regular Americans respond to let me know their own stories, and why the system didn't work out for them.

I read about a recently-released study sometime over the past few weeks where it was found that the stronger people's opinions were on topics, the less likely they were to have really thought the issues through. I think I can probably provide some proof of that in the negative; the more I think about topics, the deeper I get into writing a post, the more likely it is that the punchline will change from my initial gut reaction. Or, even when I don't shift completely, I am usually able to throw a few counterpoints in that wouldn't have been otherwise immediately apparent to me.

I am happy with how this site has allowed me to develop and express my voice in a lot of ways that I probably wouldn't have been able to without it. I am also happy that, upon finding my voice, I have been able to see when it requires some modification. All in all, getting to 1,000 posts has been enlightening, interesting, thought-provoking, tiring, therapeutic, self-affirming, and clarifying, in the best sense of each of those words. I am certainly looking forward to another 1,000 posts, and hope readers will be as well.