Revisiting Old Themes

One of the things about having a blog that has been running more-or-less constantly for over nine years is that going back through the archives, I can see where I get stuck on a theme for a while, then drop it and get onto some other track for a while, lose interest, rinse and repeat. Some subjects get revisited from time to time, like education, which I never seem to get tired of bashing endlessly. If anyone pays attention to our reading list over there on the right, you would notice that I have been on that kick again, thanks to the Underground Grammarian. It's always fertile ground; the root of so many of our other problems. It's the "gift" that keeps on giving.

Anyway, that's not the theme I'm revisiting. Instead, evolution, a theme from way back in the dark ages, resurfaced in a completely unexpected place. In July, 2005, I finally came out publicly with something I had figured out several years earlier: the church denomination I had belonged to for nearly all my life was just flat out wrong. I went on for over a year about how evolutionary theory was right and young-earth creationism was not. Then I just stopped because, a) I got bored with it like I do with everything else; b) anything that could possibly be said on the subject has already been said (see here and here); and c) if logical arguments worked, no one would play Powerball, let alone drive the jackpot up to half a billion dollars twice in three months.

Then John Michael Greer had to go and write three brilliant posts as part of a larger discussion on the decline of the American empire:

The Quest for a Common Language
On the Far Side of Progress
Not Written in the Stars

If you read those and feel like you're jumping into the middle of a conversation, you are. JMG's current series started on February 15, 2012 with his post, The Nature of Empire. There's a mere 75 posts in the series running in the 2,000- to 2,500-word range, if you wish to get the full picture. (Seriously, if you have the time, it's worth doing.) Or you can wait for the book to come out. JMG's blog is his first rough draft of what becomes his published books. Or you can just read those three posts and live with the feeling that you're missing something. Or go play Candy Crush Saga.

The point is that those three posts have prodded me to look around at some old web sites and do some thinking about things I haven't thought about in a long time. I'm not sure that they will result in posts (other than this one) given that I doubt I could ever come close to JMG's level of writing, but don't be surprised if something crops up from time to time.

Other than that, nothing to really report. We're both down with some sort of summer crud that is stealing sleep and sapping energy. I was going to bang out some landscaping today, but instead ended up doing inside work and reading more books on how bad our schools suck. Maybe I'll get something accomplished tomorrow, but I wouldn't bet money on it.