I have been very remiss in my blogging over the past several weeks, but one of my resolutions for 2010 will be to make blog entries on a much more regular basis. I have been counseled to make shorter blog posts, and I expect to take this advice in 2010.
On the year-in-review edition of “Left, Right, and Center,” Tony Blankley and Matt Miller, representing the right and the center, respectively, both said that they feared a secular trend of reduction in US wage levels due to foreign competition. Robert Scheer, representing the left, demurred, saying that he thought the US continues to have good long-term economic prospects.
<http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/lr/lr091225a_look_back_at_2009>
Scheer’s professed optimism on this point bothered me quite a bit, insofar as it might represent either naïvete or disingenousness on the left. I was also bothered, and continue to be bothered, by assertions, such as that made repeatedly by Al Gore during his unsuccessful bid for the presidency, that there is no conflict between environmentalism and economic growth. It does seem to me that US wages will be under downside pressure due to a worldwide overabundance of labor for the foreseeable future, and I remember thinking that this would be the case forty years ago, when I attended a conference of labor leaders at Penn State University.
Also, I would say that while the conventional wisdom is “shorter blog posts,” this is not universally agreed upon. I, for one, like a long blog post, and I encourage you not to restrict yourself overmuch.
If your primary goal is to up your posting frequency, I grant that this advice has merit. However, remember what Gauss said: “Pauca sed matura.”
But bj, you were the one who originally advised me to consider writing shorter and less well-considered posts in order to get the volume of posts up. My wife gives the same advice. If I don’t increase the posting frequency, I’m unlikely to generate much traffic. Also, there is no reason not to increase the frequency. For instance, I might start giving mini-reviews of nearly every movie I see, including those I watch on TV, which constitute the great majority of the movies I see. But I won’t eliminate long posts either, when they seem to impose themselves on me.
What, you’re now demanding that I be consistent? ;^)
That was a mistake. It was supposed to say “secular trend,” so I corrected the post. Thanks for spotting that.
Harvey
Ah. I should have guessed. Thanks.
I should also say that I still am/was unfamiliar with secular used in this way. This made me notice Dan Drezner’s usage in today’s Bh.tv diavlog.
Learn something new every day. Thanks.
Great! I would love to read a handful of your posts every week. You’re an original thinker with an elegant way with words. More!