I have been having a discussion with my son in regard to the content strategy for this blog. He is young and is concerned lest I do not conform to the prevailing standards on the Internet.

I am old and not sure I share his concern. As for standards on the Internet, I see no reason to introduce them now.

I do understand and appreciate his point however, and have been trying to resolve the issues.

My conception is that of something which will not win the Booker but is reasonably erudite and au point, a web publication that will appeal to a sophisticated audience, an audience that welcomes an opportunity to engage in literary pursuits on a level higher than the endless merchandising found in the corporate press, or the daily regurgitation of press handouts masquerading as “news.” I am thinking of something local, and immediate, and germane to the lived experience of the persons within this locale. An audience with passionate concern for public space and the built environment. An audience aware of the threat posed by climate change and dissatisfied by responses which betray the ideals of science in general, and the Enlightenment project in particular. An audience that embraces social justice and a participative, inclusive, community, an audience understanding of the import of Communicative Rationality and one willing to dip a toe into the area of Normal Accidents.

The key question that needs to be faced is this: “Does such an audience exist within Ottawa?”

And then, on a walk, I had my answer; this answer is exhibited in the image above. Surely any community which celebrates John Berger’s great novel in its street furniture must contain an audience that will come to appreciate this blog.

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I wanted to end on the funny. But the world never accomodates my desires. My use of “enlightenment” is based on Kant’s 1784 essay What is Enlightenment?

Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another.

Such defintion would include the work of Derrida and Foucault.