I called my first post Hello World!

I am a computer programmer and the first program a programmer creates in learning a new computer language is to display the words “Hello World!”.  In my original post, although I said hello, I assumed nobody actually read it because nobody else knew about this blog.  I wanted to get a few posts out first before I told anybody about it.

Today I am announcing my blog on Facebook.  There is still a distinct chance that nobody will read,  it but after today, maybe somebody will.

If you are first reading my blog, I suggest that you start at the oldest posts and work your way on up, at least through the February 2014 posts.   You can do this by going to the column on the right and clicking February 2014 under archives.

I state in these posts what I am trying to accomplish with this blog.  I think this background will be very helpful in reading the more current posts.  If by some unlikely event you find these posts interesting, you may want to scroll your way up.  I am trying to slowly build a perspective and the later posts build on what I said in the earlier posts.

In short, I am sharing my thoughts on philosophy and politics.  I am a big believer that most people of all political persuasions are good people and we primarily have the same goals.  We differ in our assumptions, however, and because of these assumptions, it is hard for us to hold a dialogue.  I like to examine the underlying assumptions behind the issues.  Only when we can get down to the core assumptions, down to the first path where we differ, can we hold any kind of meaningful dialogue.

In any case, I thank you for taking the time to read this today.