I hate the word “blog”. It’s demeaning. It connotes something less than writing, less than a journalistic effort, less than a meaningful discourse.
The rise of the blog, it’s personal nature, it’s independent voices rising above the multitudes, a modern phenomenon that speaks to the worth of individuals, is in response to the analytical and
technical nature of modern day life. It has its merit, purpose, and importance. But, those who write of a political nature should be considered in a different light.
It is a consummate summary of all the voices. The writers speak of those things that effect us all.
These web-based writings have given us an alternative to the corporate,and power-backed media conglomerates. The bedrock of modern media’s product remains the bottom line. Our Capitalist Republic has its
merits. An individual can rise from his station of birth. In theory, everyone has a chance. But, it also has its faults, the Fourth Estate principal being one the most susceptible to corruption.
From Our beginnings, the Broadside, the Penny Papers, to mention a few, have been the seeds of Our democratic knowledge, Our information links to the world not privy to the common Citizen.
In Our earlier times, the Royalists counted on the ignorance of the Publick. When there is a lack of knowledge, there is a method for control. In response to that feudal thinking Our Founding Citizens
formed Committees
of Correspondence, or Committees of Safety.
This secret patriotic society ( Sons of Liberty ) had its
roots in the Committees of Correspondence. The “Committees” were colonial groups organized prior to the outbreak of the American War for Independence and were established for the purpose of formally
organizing public opinion and coordinating patriotic actions against Great Britain. These original committees were loosely organized groups of private citizens formed in the New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island colonies from 1763-1764. Link
“The committees of correspondence rallied opposition on common causes and established plans for collective action, and so the network of committees were the beginning of what later became a formal political union among
the colonies…The earliest committees of correspondence were temporary, being formed
to address a particular problem and then disbanding once a resolution was achieved. The first formal committee was established in Boston
in 1764,
to rally opposition to the Currency Act and unpopular
reforms imposed on the customs service.” Link
Soon, these Committees would take on a permanence,
formal standing. Their birth led directly to the
First Continental Congress. The Second Congress created it’s own Committee of Correspondence to further its interpretations of British Rule.
I would propose that the writings on such major community websites as dkos,
boomantribune,
mydd,
and americablog, and more local ones
such as bluenc,
bluemass, chicagodownstate, and individual
efforts as in digby,
firedoglake, and my
left wing, all constitute the seeds of new Committees of Correspondence.
crossposted at my personal Committee of Safety