That's really what I'm doing, fighting industrial ignorance. And I have an unexcelled track record, having done it repeatedly, with no breaks, since April 2010.
No one seemed to know how bad things were with the major industrial powers. It's this kind of ignorance that I popped. I started off not knowing I'd become such a crusader, such a voice. I certainly didn't know I would become the philosophical father of an entire movement, the Residential Industrial Movement (RIM). It's really more than I imagined. But that's the way it's been, now with a track record that goes way back. What none of us imagined has happened!
Has it been nothing but smooth sailing all this time? Unfortunately, no. I've suffered many things, the various attacks of those same major industrial powers being the biggest thing. They wanted me to give up and give in. And it sure looked like the thing to do for a while, especially when I was confined to the house in a virtual house arrest. They had a lot to lose. But things loosened up -- a history I don't need to repeat yet once more; it's the stuff of folk songs now.
And I've kept at it, even though the responses I've gotten haven't always been the more supportive. I'm going to just lay it on the line and hope you won't hold my honesty against me. What I've really seen has been a terrible ignorance of the things of industry -- from the general public and even from my most regular readers. So a lot of the time, it's like I'm yelling into a black hole...
I hate to mention this stuff, because I don't want to lose anyone. But I've had plenty of times I've been discouraged and haven't said anything. I guess I may as well say something now ... and see it if helps. You haven't all gotten me, like if I've expressed something of the troubles of the RIM and what we should do about it.
Quite frankly, some of my readers have been so ignorant they've needed to be led by the hand every inch of the way. I've been willing to do that, for a time, but I can't be responsible for every nursing baby. Even I run dry after a while.
I had one guy, he was such an infant, he was checking in five times a day to see if I'd written anything new. And there was no indication he had profited from the information already posted. He was always clamoring for more, but I could tell he was just looking at everything in a naive way. I knew he was coming around all the time, and for a time I felt like I shouldn't let him down. But you can probably guess what happened. Suddenly he was logging on six, seven, eight times, and it became obvious to me that he was regressing. I had to work him back to seven, six, then five times -- and all this was hard to do because his infantilism was a very stubborn case. Finally, I laid it on the line for him and told him he needed to go cold turkey for a while. The information would still be here in my archives when he felt he could handle it in a more responsible way.
A lot of the others -- I wouldn't call it complete infantilism, I would call them just stunted in many ways. They've wandered, they've been neglected, they've sought something usually in vain. And they found what they were looking for here. But because they'd been denied for so long, they were stunted. They had the responsibility, if you want to call it that, to forgo too many trips to the well, but it was more likely just dullness that kept them away. They're here and they're happy for anything I give them. But I really have to work with them because they'll deny themselves too much, then they might indulge too much. It's a tough balancing act.
There's a few who are more or less responsible and independent. They've been bruised in the past by some who seemed to have the information they craved but then pulled it back before the full nourishment could be enjoyed. But they've kept it going and they should be credited for that. They just need to be handled very carefully, keeping up their needs without my overdoing it. For them, I recommend checking in a couple times a day only. They should get what they can handle without becoming dependent on it.
Then there's three or four -- out of the entire world -- whom I'd consider my equals, on my plain. They're completely nourished -- nourishment isn't a problem with them. They exercise their mind. They live by time-tested principles. They've got the pieces together in one coherent picture. They're able to sit up and clearly enunciate their own name. They can say the first few letters of the alphabet forward and backward. In short, they're peers. I can bounce ideas off them and expect several clear words in response. They're the ones who make it all worthwhile, because it's a meeting of minds that's also beneficial to me. As long as they have the gift of speech and self-possession sufficient to rub two thoughts together, that's something I can really cherish.
The ones who just grunt or scratch at the wall ... I honestly do appreciate them, more than I can say. At least they perform the good function of being curious about the Google Ads, and we don't want to bite the hand that feeds us.
I want to be an encouragement to all those who come here. You need the information and I'm happy to provide it. And I definitely don't want anything I've said to be a discouragement to you. If you feel like checking in a few times a day, please do. I do appreciate it!
Really, if there's anyone who peeves me, and yet draws from me a great measure of sorrow, it's those poor souls who, knowing their need of information, don't come here at all. They are the ones who are completely ignorant, with an ignorance that exceeds itself in this one sense, that they don't recognize it! Perhaps they haven't heard of my blog. That's not really an excuse, since it's within a few keystrokes on anyone's computer.
Lastly, my greatest disappointment has to be reserved for those who know the source of necessary information, yet are too ignorant or obstinate to avail themselves of it. Most of these are drunks on Skidrow downtown. Given the choice between the industrial information to be gathered here or a trivia game or a sports program there, it's no mystery which they'll pick. Of course that's stupidity to the severest degree.
I will continue on! This is my vow! Not just for what I can provide to the world for the cause of the Residential Industrial Movement. But for the ways I can combat ignorance in the lives of those who read my blog.
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