Statement of Purpose

I am a reluctant blogger (see my first article, “The Founding of riskinghemlock.com”, for more on that). So why have I thrown my two cents into the political debate that never ceases to rage forth in the world of cyberspace?

There are many answers to that question, none of them particularly compelling or flattering toward myself. I’m bored, I’m holding out an admittedly unrealistic hope that I can parlay this into some meager form of income, and I hold a host of opinions that I believe to be knowledgeable and right-minded, which has caused an inexplicable urge to share them with complete strangers.

None of these admissions make me look good, but I think that could be considered a plus in my favor. If nothing else, I am candid. I say exactly what I think on a given subject, and as I hope the opinions expressed herein will indicate, I have a solid intellectual foundation for most of my views. That may or may not prove sufficient reason for individuals whom I have never met to invest their time (an asset far more precious than money) in what I have to say, but what do I have to lose? I mean, besides my dignity, assuming the worst-case scenario transpired and this ends with my looking like a consummate ass in front of millions of people?

I guess all that is left for me to do now is explain this website’s name. For those of you already familiar with the great Hellenic philosophers, the allusion should be obvious. To everyone else, I should explain that it refers to Socrates, a man well-known for expressing his thoughts regardless of how they rankled the nerves of others. Predictably, this pattern of behavior resulted in his being executed by the state, in his case via being force-fed hemlock. While the risk posed to me by creating this website is nowhere near comparable to those encountered by Socrates (and I should be ashamed of myself for implying otherwise), I nevertheless deemed the moniker appropriate. Why? Because as we already live in an era that celebrates self-promotion through hyperbole, I see no reason to refrain from jumping on the bandwagon.