About the Author
Does the world need another blog about politics and the media?
The question, of course, is its own answer.
Fact is, perhaps 50 or so bloggers control 98% of the audience for political and foreign policy commentary. The next 500,000 bloggers write for the rest of the audience, that minuscule 2% consisting mostly of friends and the occasional wandering reader who stumbles upon a blog and never returns.
I have no illusions about entertaining or informing a vast audience hungry for my perspective on worldly matters. Does that make me The Village Idiot? Some, no doubt, have already come to that conclusion. On the other hand, I have two assets that most bloggers don’t.
First, as the editor of the Hillary Clinton Quarterly, I have been writing about and following Hillary Clinton’s career and the political scene for almost two decades now. I think I come to this task with a baseline of knowledge and insight into my subject matter that will make this an interesting place for my readers.
The second asset? Calling this blog “The Village” is an obvious allusion to Hillary’s book, It Takes a Village. But my real intention is to convey my own belief that the world is a village and more inter-connected than we ever could have predicted. That means that our foreign policy and politics must be an expression of our solidarity with the rest of the world, not just a carrot or stick used to manipulate everyone else. In other words, in the global village we have a responsibility to take care of our neighbors and make it a better place for all of us.
If that sounds corny, what other purpose do we have? The days of merely taking what we can get and making sure everyone else keeps their dirty hands off of our “stuff” is long past. This blog looks at the concept of realpolitik from a different perspective – yes, we are dealing with the world as it is and not as we wish it to be. But we can advocate for and initiate policies that make reality more humane and compassionate for more of the world’s citizens. What’s wrong with that?
And sure, I used the word “solidarity” and to some people that automatically makes me a socialist, or worse. That’s their problem, not mine. As Harry Truman said in a speech to Congress the day after his predecessor, Franklin Roosevelt, was buried, “The responsibility of a great state is to serve and not dominate the world.”
So, welcome to The Village. We will find out together where its borders are, how the pieces fit together, and what it really means to live in the same home.
Thanks for dropping by. I hope you visit again.
– Frank Marafiote
