Facibus On Blogging

Carlos Castaneda once wrote:

This question is one that only a very old man asks. Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn’t. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.

John Chow vs. Zern Liew
Two of the blogs that I read every day have very different social conscience levels.

• John Chow is, unashamedly, in it for the money. Today he is pushing the old economic rationalist saw about minimum wage causing unemployment. I remember studying this particular line in economic history class at university - the argument is that the poor will be motivated to get jobs if the minimum wage is reduced to near zero and social security is torn out from under them. It is the stuff of shock-jock buffoons and populist politicians - it doesn’t work, it has never worked, it never will. Starving the poor out creates better criminals of those that survive the tide of human misery, and nothing else. Removing the minimum wage is right up there with “war is good for society” as a justification for the monetization of human suffering.
• Zern Liew has a social conscience. He argues against falsehood in marketing, thoughtless mass production, and poor industrial design. I haven’t asked him specifically, but my guess is that Zern would not be in favour of scrapping the minimum wage.

So what is the bottom line for me as a reader?
Which of these two bloggers is of more use to me as a reader? While he is not as popular as John as a blogger, and may never be, he and Lisa Messenger wrote a book (Cubicle Commando) that has helped me understand the intrapreneuring concept (and, accordingly, made me a lot more saleable within the company I work for - in real terms, Zern and Lisa have helped me to make more money than John Chow probably ever will).

Which are you? Are you John or Zern?
Does your blogging follow the path with a heart, or does it make you curse your life? Are you in it for the money, or are you blogging because you must - it is what makes you happy? Are you genuinely helping other people or helping yourself to their money? Which model do you think is ultimately more sustainable?

Tim Ferriss is telling us that if we are not challenging people, then we are not being remarkable:

If you make it threaten people’s 3 Bs — behavior, belief, or belongings — you get a huge virus-like dispersion. Most of my explosive posts, which have brought in 1000s of new Feedburner subscribers, have nothing to do with my book. “Geek to Freak” is about how I gained 34 lbs. of muscle in 4 weeks. “How to Travel the World with 10 lbs. or Less” is obviously not (though a great case study in how to use Amazon Associates naturally).

Polarize your audience, elicit some attacks — which create disagreement and rebukes and debate — and be anal about the numbers. Track what works and what doesn’t. Fine tune what works and test it again. Rinse and repeat.

Does challenging a belief mean losing social conscience? It can, but I guarantee that it doesn’t have to.

To finish, one more quote: Stew Leonard once asked… “Would the boy you were be proud of the man that you are?” -  gender aside, would the child that you were admire the adult that you have become?