Blogging -- the Dark Side

Mike Klander's recent resignation from his position with the federal Liberals' as a result of gratuitously insulting Olivia Chow on his blog illustrates the dark side of the blogging game.

It is tempting to insult your philosophical opponents from the privacy of your blog. Sitting alone and secure in front of your computer, you can trash your opponents mercilessly in complete safety. Not having to look them in the eye, you can ignore their humanity, their feelings. And insult is so much easier than researching your topic and creating a logical argument. Nor do you have to worry about losing an argument to superior knowledge and logic. It is an old strategy, common to politicians and journalists alike -- if you can't attack your opponent's argument, attack your opponent. Safe and easy.

It is also lazy and narcissistic. If your opinion isn't worth research and hard thinking, it probably isn't worth much at all. You may be in love with your words (aren't we all?), but mentally fondling your phrases doesn't add substance to them.

And insult coarsens debate. Or eliminates it. No one, except a masochist, is going to read material that insults him. Your blog will do no more than preach to the converted. Rather than contribute to a medium that brings people together in discussion and debate, you contribute to a medium that brings division and hostility.

Not that I'm suggesting we challenge our opponents solely with serious debate. Poking fun at the other guys is part and parcel of political give and take. I am suggesting it isn't necessary to demean them. Good political cartoonists, for example, are masters at taking the mickey out of politicians without insulting them. This, however, requires wit and creativity, and if these aren't your strong suits perhaps you should cleave to the democratic virtues of sound argument and respect for others.

Still, the web is an open medium. It invites the boorish as well as the brilliant. We can only hope the latter will set the standard.