Writer Introduction
Who I Am and What I Write...
This is who I am, as a person and as a writer. I seek to get to the truth of the matter, and I remain willing to speak to anyone, about anything. In a perfect world many of my points would be made by full-time journalists… but this is the world in which we live.
I have no special expertise. I hold no credentials. I’ve worked a dozen different jobs in a dozen different states. I’ve cleaned windows and loaded trucks and worked in warehouses. I was an infantryman in Afghanistan. I graduated college at 30, thanks to the Montgomery G. I. Bill. I’ve struggled with sleep issues and drug addiction. I spent years in therapy. I’ve been in jail, and homeless, and committed. I was a teacher and a writer, living paycheck to paycheck. I’m now an assistant editor position for Criminal Legal News and Prison Legal News. I have seen the nonprofit world and the realm of public education from the inside, and I have seen the professional and credentialed world from both sides.
Sometimes I feel like a visiting alien, or Cassandra, alive to the possibilities of degeneration and social disaster that so many people seem blind to. Perhaps you know the feeling I’m describing.
I have come to believe that many of the solutions to our problems are fairly simple, if not easy. In each case we can continue to indulge the vices and weaknesses of individuals (feedings a massive system of marketed addiction and bureaucratic programs) or we can choose to exit. We can focus on virtue, critical thinking, health, community, spirit, and challenge. We can exempt ourselves from the growing complex which seeks to bury us in compulsion and chronic problems and distraction, and we can join the nascent movement of people seeking to reclaim our independence and dignity, and our purpose.
Fortunately, the way forward was laid out by people who came before, and it is a fascinating and redeeming journey, full of mystery and struggle and enchantment. Because this journey calls to our deepest nature it is uniquely fulfilling, but no long journey should be taken without the occasional company of others. I’m grateful that we live in an era when knowledge and connections and valuable lessons are available to everyone with internet access. What better reason could there be to go online?
I’m a voracious reader who taught myself the tools of logic and social science research and rhetoric. I’ve read and annotated thousands of books. I always dig through the dross and opinions and try to seek the data, on every issue. I strive to remain fair-minded and incisive in my thinking and writing. Here you will find essays, notes, story ideas, and personal reflections dealing with mental health, history, recovery, war, happiness, virtue, public policy, law, and culture. You’ll find poetry, articles, and film reviews.
Regardless of where you site yourself on the political map you will probably agree that our elites have lost public trust and effectiveness. Academics are often disconnected from the trials of the working classes, or cowardly and careerist-or simply plagiarists. Non-profit employees sometimes collude to exacerbate the problems they’re dedicated to solving. Journalists ignore or suppress any data or anecdote inconsistent with treasured narratives. Politicians… are politicians.
Whether you like it or not we’re all going to have to start giving less weight to credentials and begin exercising more rigor and skepticism in our information diets. We’re going to have to become better at listening to one another. We’re going to have to become more flexible and discerning in how we form views about the world. Why not begin now?
This is my Substack.
