Why I Post About Politics On This Blog
I have gradually moved a lot of stuff off of this blog. The personal stuff and photos have largely moved to tumblr. The music posts continue from time to time, but the daily mp3 posts have moved to fredwilson.vc (but are still available via the player on the upper right). I’ll still occasionally post about a hyperlocal event and I still post about our trips here (but some of that has moved to tumblr too). And the short bursts have moved to twitter.
The one thing I haven’t moved is my political thoughts. When I first started blogging, many people suggested that I shouldn’t blog about politics. They told me the comments would be nasty, mean, and hurtful. They were right. But I kept doing it and recently, you’ll note that I’ve been doing it a lot.
There is still the occasional nasty comment (which I’ll usually ask to cool it). But by and large the comments are amazing.
Just yesterday, I got to witness a fascinating discussion between my friend and fellow Hillary fan, Tom Watson, and a host of other readers who are Obama supporters on some important issues facing Obama.
To be honest, I don’t spend my day reading real clear politics and the NY Times and WSJ opinion pages. I can’t keep track of each and every issue that is out there in a political campaign. But I am interested in them and I am particularly interested in what every day people think of them.
I don’t know how many comments my political posts have recieved in the past month (I could go count them but I am pressed for time right now). I suspect at least a couple hundred and probably well north of that. These are the thoughts and opinions of smart, educated, and informed people who care enough about politics to wade into the comments and spend time leaving their thoughts.
I am blessed to be able to read all of them every day. It has made me a better citizen, voter, and blogger. Thanks everyone and keep them coming.
Comments (Archived):
Fred,It’s nice to think that political discourse is still possible. As a rule of thumb, I avoid discussions about politics in social situations simply because of the risk. But I (optimistically) still believe in democracy, the will of the people, and the potential for popular decisions to change and be “right” – for people to do the right thing. And I know it’s a bit cowardly to believe in political discourse and not practice that at work, at cocktail parties, etc.Kudos for practicing what I preach.
Fred,Keep doing what you are doing. If we don’t discuss, we don’t progress. As long as people don’t get bitter and tolerate other forms of opinions by stating valid and reasonable on topic arguments, it’s all good. Ad Hominem insults are an unintelligent way out of an argument.I followed your lead and voted for Hillary today out here in VA. All issues aside, I just cannot see Obama as the President. Sure he is charismatic but his lack of experience worries me quite a bit. Looking at the exit polls, a lot of young people are voting for Obama. Not sure what that says about young people (I am under 30), but it might be yet another endictment that a lot of young people are easily impressed with a personality than their entire body of work. People are buying the mantra of change but their has to be some substance behind that message, not just a convincing political sound bite.I think Obama does have the personality to be the POTUS but not in 2008. He needs to be seasoned a little more before he can take the big job.Looking at the General Election, both Hillary and McCain provide us with plenty of experience and leave us to decide on the issues. Which is what it should be about, I don’t want to worry about voting for a President, who doesn’t have a track record of acting in one way or another when facing a national/international challenge.-Mo
Thanks Fred – I’m more of a junkie that you are, and heavily invested in the race. Actually, your readers have wider perspectives on politics than I normally find out there. Mo – I’m with you on seasoning, very much so.
As a long time lurker, I’ve come to really enjoy and respect your opinions and insights as delivered through A VC. However, the splintering of A VC into various micro feeds is troubling — is there a unified feed? There should be.
Everything is at fredwilson.vcThat’s the aggregated feedIts also available at friendfeedFred
“It has made me a better citizen, voter, and blogger”Better blogger, I give you that … better citizen and voter? don’t be so sure. Supporting a corportist — financed to teeth by their corporate masters –ain’t something to be proud of, ya know?
That’s your view of Hillary and you are entitled to itBut it’s not mineIf it was, I would not have voted for herFred
Fred, thanks for the great post.Shoot, I had a comment here a couple of weeks ago that was questionable if not borderline offensive. Whether right or wrong it made me look at my comment in a different way. The beauty is that politics at a high depth level can be discussed by ALL people. do to the nature that the ramifications play into our everyday lives. I can’t tell you how many times traveling abroad I’ve had conversation with cab drivers in third world countries and found their subject matter quite insightful and passionate. That is what makes these discussions great!In your post you said…….. “I am particularly interested in what every day people think of them.”….Yup, this is what it’s all about and now the internet gives every person from ever corner (just about) of the world the same platform to voice and share their pleasures, displeasures, philosophy and ideology.
I’ve been an active blog reader for awhile, but only recently began posting using tumblr (check out http://www.theinternetjunkie.com). I like the convenience ease of use factor of tumblr, but have recently considered switching to typepad bc it is still relatively easy to use bc has far more options/flexibility. If you weren’t in the VC/internet business, would you publish (and/or recommend publishing) on more than one platform?
That’s hard for me to answer. I’ve been a VC for over 20 years and I can’t really imagine not doing thisfred
I’ve noticed similar effects over the last four years or so that I’ve been blogging. Mention politics and people tell you to stick to your core subject. People want to read about what they want to read about. They found you through a link on a tech site and only want to read your tech-related stuff, and if they want to read political, they’ll go to Daily Kos.It never occurs to them that this is your space, and that the content they like may be a subset of the content you want to write. As bloggers we find it rude when people tell us what to write about, yet readers find it almost rude on our part to write about something they aren’t interested in.So keep blogging about politics and (shudders) Vampire Weekend or whatever else. It’s your blog.
The one thing I haven’t moved is my political thoughts.thats good
Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. ~Plato
Dear Fred, Thanks so much for your blog and I LOVE THE MUSIC!! I started tuning in to you regularly for that reason alone. And now I am interested in all the other things you blog about as well. The real reason I am writing is because a few days ago you wrote about the role of the internet in the presidential campaign, especially in regards to fundraising. As a young person, my friends and I have mass emailed Barak-related Youtube clips to friends and contacts, where each recipient sends the clip to maybe 200 people. The “Yes We Can” clip had over a million views in under 48 hours. Now a parody clip on John McCain is circulating along communication trees and on local democratic party mass email lists. (You have probably seen them already) As much as I respect Hillary’s career and contribution to our country, she doesnt have nearly the grass fire spark among young people that results in unofficial ‘activism’ such as the You Tube phenomenon. Yes We Can clip: http://www.youtube.com/watc…response clip: http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Dear Fred, Thanks so much for your blog and I LOVE THE MUSIC!! I started tuning in to you regularly for that reason alone. And now I am interested in all the other things you blog about as well. The real reason I am writing is because a few days ago you wrote about the role of the internet in the presidential campaign, especially in regards to fundraising. As a young person, my friends and I have mass emailed Barak-related Youtube clips to friends and contacts, where each recipient sends the clip to maybe 200 people. The “Yes We Can” clip had over a million views in under 48 hour preceeding and on Super Tuesday. Now a parody clip on John McCain is circulating along communication trees and on local democratic party mass email lists. (You have probably seen them already) As much as I respect Hillary’s career and contribution to our country, she doesnt have nearly the grass fire spark among young people that results in unofficial ‘activism’ such as the You Tube phenomenon. Yes We Can clip: http://www.youtube.com/watc…response clip: http://www.youtube.com/watc…
In this day and age, you must tap into the collective energy of youraudience and turn them into your marketing organizationThat’s what we advise all of our portfolio companies to do and campaignsneed to do the sameSo you are totally rightfred
Dear Fred, Thanks so much for your blog and I LOVE THE MUSIC!! I started tuning in to you regularly for that reason alone. And now I am interested in all the other things you blog about as well. The real reason I am writing is because a few days ago you wrote about the role of the internet in the presidential campaign, especially in regards to fundraising. As a young person, my friends and I have mass emailed Barak-related Youtube clips to friends and contacts, where each recipient sends the clip to maybe 200 people. The “Yes We Can” clip had over a million views in under 48 hour preceeding and on Super Tuesday. Now a parody clip on John McCain is circulating along communication trees and on local democratic party mass email lists. (You have probably seen them already) As much as I respect Hillary’s career and contribution to our country, she doesnt have nearly the grass fire spark among young people that results in unofficial ‘activism’ such as the You Tube phenomenon. Yes We Can clip: http://www.youtube.com/watc…response clip: http://www.youtube.com/watc…
I enjoy the political posts.Even though your views are borderline concerning.Write-in bloomberg.
Borderline?I am not trying hard enough!
My only problem with Tumblr is that it seems fairly immature as a web service. I just clicked on your tumblr link above and it was offline. I tolerate that with twitter because of the medium and the value but couldnt see myself putting up with spotty performance from my blogging platform. Not the first time I have gone to check it out and it hasnt worked. Maybe next time eh.
Tumblr is down this amIt’s an issue for every web service. They have to grow up and get reliable.Typepad went through this stage too. And they came out of it better andstrongerfred
Managed to remember to come back and check out Tumblr. I like it. Great detail and a lot more personal. Interesting to see where they take it.
Fred,I think the political posts are great…when I have a provocative thought about politics, I prefer to share it here…because you can usually expect an intelligent and thoughtful discourse from your community. What is so interesting about blogging, is that frequently the community eclipses the actual blog, and the blogger become much less an informer, than a ringmaster — directing our attention to this or that issue.So I would say, if it is interesting to the community, by all means share it.Which leads me to my latest political thought. The most interesting thing I picked up in the zeitgeist, both in the Paul Krugman “cult of personality” editorial as well within McCain’s comments last night, is a hint of what is to come in the next few weeks: to try to paint Obama as not just a peddler of false hopes, but something worse: a solipsistic and egomaniacal huckster, possibly with messianic delusions. And ultimately there is some faint racism underlying this: the fear that African Americans will herald Obama as a kind of savior, promising deliverance. A second coming. “The One”.I am seeing a lot of that kind of language in the past week, and while I think it is probably the best way to attack Obama, I think it will ring hollow, as long as Obama can stay humble and in control of the phenomenon. But just one “the Beatles are bigger than Jesus” type comment from Obama could send the whole thing crashing down.
Hi Fred,I’m heavily invested in this election as well and read the usual NY Times, WSJ, (and my left leaning Rolling Stone and Huffington Post) for the issues. Surprisingly, I’ve found the blogs I read everyday to keep pace with the web/technology space (including yours) often feature very insightful political commentary.You don’t accept the status quo on the web if that status quo could be improved to increase efficacy and efficiency for all users. The same goes for politics and your voice is insightful and warranted in this space as well, especially given the importance of the 2008 election.Another prominent technology blogger who often receives criticism for his political commentary is professor, lawyer, blogger, and Wired writer (among other things) Lawrence Lessig. While I visit his site for his commentary on digital property rights and his work with Creative Commons, I like thousands of others, have found his videos on the current election inspiring.He recently produced a 10 minute video on the national showdown of McCain vs. Obama/ Clinton. Worth a watch, especially for those of us who have struggled with the choice between two very worth candidates in Obama and Clinton.http://lessig.org/blog/2008…p.s. Love the music as well. Kings of Leon and the New Pornographers disk sare in my top 10 for 2007 as well. Rock on Fred!
Disclosures from Hillary’s campaign on Wednesday evening uncover $5mm in JANUARY ALONE that went to consultants, as well as a laundry list of additional spending that is being called into question as valuable. As someone who (I think) would likely do more than “raise an eyebrow” if one of his portfolio companies managed its expenses this way, I suppose your vote for Hillary is “a part of the portfolio that will fail,” and that’s just the way the VC business works. I think it’s too bad because you sit in a position to have influenced other Hillary voters.The fact that you have made posts to “leave Microsoft” (using their software, that is) and yet support Hillary just do not reconcile with me, and while I get that all thinking does not need to tie into an over-arching theme, I am so confused by this judgment, that’s all.
I am not a HIllary fan. So possibly you’re not interested in opposition commentary I’m not an Obama fan, either
any opinion is welcome on this blogI just ask people to be respectful of each otherFred