A new blog has been added to the family here at The 25 Year Plan. The new site, Home of the Free, has been formed to fulfill a requirement of Journalism 131 - column writing - at Sacramento State. Although this class is not required for a degree (it could be an elective, however, that requirement has already been met twice over), it is very much an area of intense personal interest. The blog will contain the output - the actual columns -written for this class. There will be a blogroll containing links to the professor’s site and to the student blogs in the class.
Each student must have a theme or “specialty” that is to be adhered to throughout the semester. Although there are a number of special interest areas or hobbies that were considered for Home of the Free, the scope of each appeared to be far too narrow to be able to produce new material on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. There is a common unifying thread, however, in many opinions represented within those interests - the acts of a meddling government.
The “nanny state” is a real concern, especially in light of the (still) recent attacks on the United States. At what point do civil liberties give way to security? It’s an age-old debate that precedes the founding of this country by many years. Obviously, some government is necessary to ensure that the state doesn’t send our lives into Hobbesian anarchy - “…solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” But where do we draw the line - and who should decide? Although there is a direction to this theme and a host of issues to apply within it, the words have no yet been written. There are only the wisps of thought, still fluid and nowhere near set in stone.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has frequented this place that words often reveal new ideas once exposed in print. Although there are some fairly defined ideals that will come to this new blog, the actual finished opinions might not follow conventional wisdom. However, with the research necessary to support them, the ideas might just represent or require a new convention. Home of the Free is a course requirement first and foremost, but hopefully it will inspire thought. Feel free to agree or disagree and please visit some of the other sites linked there. It’s new and it’s fresh and some of these students might even be future syndicated columnists.
You read it here first.
5 comments:
Sounds good. I'll add it to my favourites & check in regularly.
I will definitely check it out!
Greetings, Mr. Althouse, from Michele's blog.
She sent me tonight, but I come here on my own a lot, too.
You have been linked (due to the excellent writting, intelligent thinking and being a central valley dude)
But where do we draw the line - and who should decide?
We draw the line at the Constitution.
We decide.
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