What’s it all about?

Welcome to Downtown Discourses, a blog dedicated to a world-view based on the application of reason. I want to create a safe place to discuss history, science, philosophy, technology, art, travel and, yes, politics and world events.

I also intend for this site to act as a means by which I discuss how I formed my own perspectives about the world, and the special role Western Civilization has played in the development of the modern reality.

I intend to start with a trip through history, during which I’ll hit upon the key ideas and characters that I think made the greatest contributions to humanity, as a whole, and Western culture, in particular. I’ll look not only at historical events, but also ideas and philosophies that I think helped (or, in some cases, harmed) the constant search for ways to empower humanity, and increase quality of life.

The journey begins in Classical Greece, and then moves to Rome, with a side-trip to the Middle East. After that, we’ll look at some of the rather surprising developments that took place during the Medieval period. From there, we’ll move to the Renaissance, and then to the Enlightenment, which I consider a key period of the development of Western society and culture second only to Classical Greece.

I’ll probably spend a fair amount of time in the Enlightenment, but then I’ll almost certainly focus on early American history, and then the Revolutionary War and the creation of the U.S. Constitution. I’ll spend a fair amount of time with that document, as I consider it one of the most important in all of human history.

After that, I’ll move through U.S. history to modern times, with a focus on how the events of the past 240 years, or so, shaped Constitutional thought.

Now that I’ve written all that down, it seems like a pretty ambitious agenda. If I get through it all, though, I’ll have established a pretty solid foundation for a rational discussion of modern life – including analysis of modern politics and cultural developments — firmly founded in what I hope is a well-established body of historical knowledge

Along the way, I’ll take detours to different parts of the world so we can see what was going on with the people in those places, too. However, my knowledge of (for instance) the histories of China and India lacks the depth of my studies of the west. I just haven’t had time to learn as much about them.

All of that means I’ll probably spend a fair amount of time, at least early on, writing about old, dead, white guys. Unfortunately, that really can’t be helped. For much of human history, cultures throughout the world denied women the ability to participate fully in civic life – or even to learn to read and write, for that matter. It’s only in the past few centuries that we’ve started to hear women’s voices in the chorus, although they’ve had the greatest impact in the progressive West, thus far.

Additionally, we’ve always had some trouble tracing the influence of people from outside our cultural areas, although I will try to remember to take a look at those contributions as I come across them. I welcome suggestions, accompanied by cites of good sources of additional information. I always like to expand my library.

On top of all that, I live in one of the finest places in the United States. Denver has somehow managed to find itself in a “sweet spot” for quality of life as measured by a combination of climate, job opportunities, cost of living, urban amenities, cultural opportunities and outdoor adventures. As such, I may sometimes veer away from my road-map to write about some of the cool things that go on, in this city.

Those who took the time to read the rules on the main page already have an idea about the sort of place this blog is not. I have little patience with extremists of any sort, none at all with those who engage in intellectual dishonesty, nor do I care for conspiracy theory. I expect and require anyone who participates to stick to standard definitions of the terms used (when in doubt, check Terms & Concepts, so as to avoid exhausting arguments about semantics), and those who play fast and loose with basic vocabulary will find themselves silenced, in short order.

Those who wish to engage in jingoistic rants or ethnocentric screeds will find no welcome, here, and certainly no voice. Anyone who participates must register with the site, and those who violate its rules will draw a ban of greater or lesser severity. Those who don’t like the rules in my playground can start their own blogs.

I’ll do everything I can to avoid dry and boring prose. A lot of school administrators work really hard to avoid controversy, as a way to prevent parents from showing up to scream about class content to staff and members of boards of education. In so doing, they manage to rip out most of the richness and drama of our past, and make history courses into exercises in slow torture that most students work hard to forget.

That won’t happen, here. I plan to include all the blood, sex, violence, humor, drama and delight I possibly can, and I’ll cite the best sources I can find to make sure I don’t pass along stuff that isn’t true, no matter how cool.

Honestly, though, that shouldn’t be too hard. After all, fiction usually must make sense, while reality faces no such constraints.

As for the language of this blog, I learned most of my writing skills during my 10 years as a newspaper reporter. I tend to use word choices and sentence structures, along with active verbs, in a way easily understandable by anyone with an eighth-grade vocabulary.

That said, while I welcome younger folks who want to read what I have to say, I have no problem with the use of language that any 12-year-old has heard, and almost certainly has said, during recess on a middle-school swing-set or playing field. I call it like I see it, and that frequently precludes the use of sanitized, emasculated English. Consider this fair warning.

Let’s get started!