The problem of blogging

I've definitely fallen away from blogging.  The funny thing is, I really don't have an excuse for not blogging at the moment, other than the fact that I do not see blogging as an activity which will lead me back to gainful employment.  Which may be completely wrong: it may be that a more dedicated focus on blogging will provide a better focus for the rest of my life, and may help provide an anchor for the daily structured, disciplined approach to job searching that I absolutely need to develop.

Of all the people whose blogs I was reading before I started my own blog, I don't know if any are left blogging regularly.  They've dropped off for their own reasons, or maybe no reasons at all.  None of us are as young as we used to be.  And the blogs that I have encountered from the younger generation tend to be less introspective, analytical, or journalistic and more nihilistic.  But that's a terrifying subject for some other time.

It's not that there's a shortage of things to blog about.  The crisis at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant continues.  In the earliest hours following that crisis, a very authoritative-sounding analysis of the situation was being cited as proof that no one had anything to worry about; the situation was minor, was well in hand, and would soon be resolved with no lingering effects.  As time has gone by, this post - which, while not written by someone authoritative who had specialized knowledge of nuclear physics, was actually a private family communication that was never intended for publication or citation - has proven to be increasingly inaccurate in its underlying thesis, its conclusions, and (to a lesser extent) some of its descriptive details.  It's an interesting example of the failure of the "appeal to authority" logical fallacy, particularly when the authority you are citing is not an actual authority.

Pennsylvania college students recently marched on Harrisburg to protest newly elected Republican Governor Tom Corbett's budget cuts to funding of the state system of higher education.  While it is all well and good to see college students embracing activism and taking action against a perceived injustice, it is unfortunate that the motivation for their action was, ultimately, unenlightened self-interest.  The fact that Corbett has done these things, or any of the other things that he has done since he came into office, should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention.  The time for action, the time for doing things to keep these problems from happening at all, was back before Election Day last year.  That was when college students should have gotten organized, gotten motivated, and gotten moving.  Now it's all over but the shouting, unless someone has a better plan.

Anyway, that's the sort of thing I should be blogging about.  Maybe I'll start up again on a regular basis soon.