As a rule of thumb, people don’t blog because they hate it; they blog because they enjoy it! I used to love blogging and sharing my passion for history and quirky architecture with others… historic architecture has always been my passion; I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t in awe of it. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past several years, you will agree that the world has become a very different place than it was previously. With so much unraveling both here and abroad, blogging about architectural anomalies seems trivial and pointless.

By now, most people are aware that something isn’t right, but many still struggle with seeing the bigger picture. It doesn’t help that the media sources which many rely upon for information are not particularly informative nor accurate. Two of my previous posts, The War On Old Buildings – Part 1 and The War On Old Buildings – Part 2, illustrate how both printed school textbooks and television have been weaponized to influence opinion and disparage historic buildings while promoting a “new is better” agenda. Similar techniques are routinely used for the presentation of current events. The profound role of television in shaping public perception cannot be overstated. Are your thoughts really your own? Are you sure?

Fortunately there are many independent journalists who work tirelessly to dig deeper than the corporate news options in order to present additional information and perspectives for us to consider. Their numbers are growing, too, as “legacy” news outlets continue to lose both credibility and popularity. As with any controversy, the best way to come to a logical conclusion is to truly listen to each side rather than allow a single source to present both sides (which allows for bias and context distortions). Increasingly, people are asking questions and seeking alternatives to the corporate echo chamber.

In that spirit I will be posting perspectives that shed light on our changing world which are both thought-provoking and increasingly mainstream; many can be found on the likes of YouTube, etc. Future topics I plan to explore include the demise of our once-prosperous cities and the resultant impact on historic preservation. I’d love to know your thoughts; if you are not comfortable commenting directly you can contact me privately by clicking on the “contact” link above as some of you have done in the past. Yes, I’ll still post about specific buildings and styles from time to time but, until the world becomes less Orwellian, it won’t be my top priority!

The first offering I’ll share is the last part of a three-part series but is great as a stand-alone. The Great Awakening, produced by investigative filmmaker Mikki Willis, is just under one and three quarters of an hour in length, but goes by quickly. If you are waffling on watching it, just humor me and watch the first 15 minutes… you’ll end up watching the whole thing!