My First Post!

On this, my 26th birthday, I finally enter the blogosphere. It's long overdue.

A few preliminary matters:

Why "all the rest follows," you may ask? It comes from something Ayn Rand wrote in September of 1971 in the last issue of her periodical The Objectivist. She wrote:

"In summing up this publication's record, I shall say that I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows."

I agree wholeheartedly. As for me, I'm just starting this blog. Quite literally, therefore, all the rest follows.

I make no guarantees with regard to posting frequency, when and whether I'll leave blogger and get my own URL, when and whether I'll add a podcast, when and whether I'll try to make money through ads, or anything else. Only time will tell how this thing will evolve.

What do I hope to achieve with this venture? Well, to begin with, I want a place to record my thoughts and to share them with anyone who might be interested in them. Because my views are, in some respects, contrary to the conventional wisdom, I can't say I will consider this thing a failure if I fail to gain a large audience over time. Even with an audience of zero, which is what I'll be starting out with, I will have a record of my thoughts, and so I hope to keep the thing going in some form, regardless of how big or small a venture it may be, for a long, long time. I expect I will say little to nothing about my personal life and more about politics, business, economics, books, movies, music, and sports.

My main focus will be on the issue of our time: the West's struggle to defend itself against its enemies, foreign--from the Islamofascists of Iran to the Communists of North Korea--and domestic--from the anti-American left to the anti-American "right." These are very serious matters. The danger is real. And the enemies of America--and of civilization itself--must be defeated. That said, the enemies of America are ultimately powerless. In the long run, if we do not lose our will, they cannot possibly defeat us. And that's why I think it's important to have a chuckle at the expense of these people. For those of you who haven't heard "It's in the Koran," by the pseudonymous "Patrick Henry," take a listen.

That's all for now. Welcome to my blog. All the rest follows...