The Pakistani Spectator

I’m an eighteen-year-old student who lives in the county of Staffordshire in Great Britain. I blog to sharpen my journalistic skills, as it is my intended career path. I like to give my spin and analysis on events. I like to write stories best, though. I suppose the best way to describe the genre is a sort of Philosophical Science Fiction, but with an almost Dark Romanticism about it- sorry, I waffle.  http://professorfrankenbanker.wordpress.com/

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?

My site is called ‘Analysis, Comments and Solutions by R.J. Croton. I started the site in May 2008 to refine my writing skills and work out my ideas in print. I also write stories- being an author full time is definitely my dream.

Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?

Oh very much so. I certainly have developed my style, and frankly it’s served as a bit of a selfish exercise. Working within scenarios and on particular subjects have allowed me to work out my ideas coherently in a way I couldn’t achieve otherwise. This is extremely important to me, as my convictions and opinions are very close to my heart. I think I’ve developed a measured yet confident style. It appeals to me, at least.

I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?

I suppose my greatest memory was when I published my last article, ‘Why Capitalism?’, and just saw the views come flooding in. It was a real pleasure to see that, I was rather astonished. But in the writing itself, I think it was the whole experience of writing ‘Why Capitalism?’ It took a while, and it lay as a draft for a few weeks, but it was very liberating to get all my ideas into a single coherent article. A great pleasure was reading one comment calling it a “very well thought out thesis”. I think my brainwave on the whole ‘alarm clock thought experiment’ was a moment of true logical clarity. If you want to see it for yourself, please read the article.

I don’t really communicate with other bloggers, I let them come to me more. I have one dedicated reader who’s also a friend, he’s probably my main focus. What’s nice is that he’s a Marxist, yet he still reads my antithetical views with great interest and honesty. I think my conviction and honesty is a big plus.

What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?

I like my politics quite drab really. Good old grey British politics, I’ll be honest. But outside of the politicians, I think the fact that people from across the world who had no possible link before like myself and yourself are able to exchange via the internet and email. I think it’s really exciting and genuine. In one article where I tried to run a logical process and see what things will  be like in the future (it’s called The Shape of Things to Come on the site, it’s a two parter), I even predicted that the downfall of dishonest politics could be this whole process. It has a great potential to limit isolation and small elites, and ultimately expand freedom. It’s not coercive, it’s just free exchange of ideas. It’ll take a long time- Rome wasn’t built in a day!

Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?

I think providing a set of well-held and honest views is good. I think there’s too much emphasis in journalism on trying to be truly impartial, when it’s rather impossible. I did a whole coursework on it for my A-Levels. Advocation journalism is just far more honest, and it follows one of my favourite phrases- “build it and they will come”. I think people, particularly in Britain, are just a bit sick of being treated like children and being lied to. There’s a veteran British politician, Tony Benn, and he has pretty different views to mine- but I utterly respect him because of his honesty. There’s not enough honour in politics.

What do you think sets Your site apart from others?

I’m not sure, really. Perhaps my style? My English teacher always used to bemoan my determined and concrete style, I’ll be honest. She always enjoyed my work I think, but she felt people may take it the wrong way in exams at least. I think that only spurred me on to find more and more evidence and argument for my points of view- make them strong. I don’t read many blogs, I’ll be honest, I see my site more as a column than a blog.  But if there was anything it would be my point of view and my way of making it. It’s got quite an old-fashioned style to it really. I just like to write it my way, and if people respond that’s the plus.

If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?

Probably my sense of honour. I’ve really cultivated it on my own, it’s made me honest and a bit easier to understand. I’m not religious in any way, so it’s important for me to have found my own path. Made me self-sufficient too, philosophically.

I’m not sure I have a happiest or gloomiest moment. There were times in my life when I was very happy and very gloomy. I went through a time not long ago when I was very lonely, very isolated. But before that I went through a period where I felt that nothing was really beyond my power- that I was capable of many challenges I wasn’t before. I go up and down, really.

Sweden, Finland, Japan- I like dramatic landscapes and beautiful places, climate doesn’t bother me, so no Barbados or anywhere like that.

What is your favorite book and why?
That’s a very hard question. My favourite novel is probably Dune by Frank Herbert. It’s exotic, political, imaginative. But probably the book which changed my life most was Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche. It’s just brilliant. It’s a book of answers and questions. It was the right book for the right time. It really engrained in me a love of life, I’ll be honest. It made me overcome my barren sort of nihilism I’d slipped into. But it taught me to embrace my darker side as well, the side which really agrees with The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. It used the Socratic Method, as it were- led me through my own knowledge. I knew that my more pragmatic, practical side wasn’t evil- despite what some people tried to convince me to. It definitely reinforced the fact in me that ‘Christian Morality’ isn’t as good as it is at first glance. It’s very complicated and personal.

Probably their language skills. I’m very pedantic at times. I always make the distinction whether they are very intelligent and just can’t express their ideas sufficiently and those who aren’t so intelligent. I just try to accept people for who they are, and so I’m always very well mannered. I’m not sure I’d call myself ‘friendly’, but I’m certainly genuine. I try to notice that in other people, how genuine they are. I try to analyse people, and if I ever reveal how my mind is working it always unnerves people. They don’t like that sort of ‘intelligence’ or mindset, I suppose.

Is there anyone from your past that once told you you couldn’t write?
Not anyone specific. I went through a stage where I was very demoralised at school, when I was younger. I started a year or so earlier than most people, what with my birthday being so late in the school year. I couldn’t read as fast or as well as the other kids in my class, and I never knew why at the time. They weren’t smarter than me, or more cunning, they just had a head start. I also went through a stage where I was in the top class in my entire school for English, and we were made to write essays for the first time. I just didn’t really get it. I remember having to get special help and advice from other teachers. Which is rather amusing in retrospect, as now I’d say my essay writing skill is one of my biggest advantages.

I suppose if they develop a corpus of work which can be published in an edited and refined form later they could. I hope to do something like that, that’s for certain, but it’ll be in a long long time, and it won’t just be a re-publishing. Otherwise I suppose they could use blogs to fundraise if they have special difficulties. It’s got a very philanthropic and charitable strength, I suppose, and the fact it’s free and fast contributes to that.

Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?

I’m not sure that’s true. No. It depends what you write. I think a successful blog is just a blog which achieves its aims- whatever they are. Some may be time consuming, some may not be. I write just when I have the free time and when I have the mindset.

Making things more understandable, I suppose. You can look into some academic subjects and it’s rather daunting and frightening. If you can find a blog which is a bit of a halfway house and explains and applies things, it can make ideas less daunting. Ideas are always good. And of course blogs can suggest what to do with ideas, which also can lead to readers asking the same questions and getting their answers. There’s a whole existential thing about it. Making it so central authorities are less and less important, making the whole thing freer. It caters for every need too, it’s just exchange of ideas. It’s a Free Market as I would put it!

Who are your top five favourite bloggers?

I’m afraid I don’t really read others’ blogs. Check out the guy who commented on my site called ‘Peter’. His blog’s really good, he’s a student at Oxford University.

Is there one observation or column or post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?

Probably ‘Why Capitalism?’ There’s a lot of observations in there, a lot of little thought experiments. A friend of mine really liked how I explained democracy and voting as de facto contracting. My previous article, Fiddling While Malthus Burns had a really lovely comment too. It makes it seem like it’s worthwhile.

What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?

They’re caught very much in the middle of things. They have leaders they can and can’t trust, there’s a lot of corruption looking in from outside. I think Pakistan needs to keep secular and modernising. Even if there are regimes who have exploited it unfairly, it can benefit all Pakistani citizens. It’s a country in real limbo, like Turkey in that respect. Caught between old and new worlds. Have confidence, though.

Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger?

Myself! No, seriously? I can’t say. I did however read an article by the (deceased) economist Murray N. Rothbard yesterday, the founder of Anarcho-Capitalism. When he explained welfare as “a claim on production” it blew me away. It was a brilliantly concise definition. Not that I agree with everything he wrote, but he certainly made his case. You can probably use Google to find it, was called ‘Milton Friedman Unravelled’, and Milton Friedman is one of my heroes.

What is the most striking difference between a developed country and a developing country?

Probably the balance of corporations. You look at America, you’ve got so many household names and well established companies which can compete on a world-level. The free market really achieved that, I think, especially in the Nineteenth Century. I can’t think of any corporations from developing countries, myself. Stability, is probably the best summation.

What is the future of blogging?

Expansion and more popularity. It’s a whole media industry where it’s free and open. It’s based on opinion and advocacy too, which we need more and more of.

You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?

It hasn’t, really. I only write when I’m able too. It’s certainly led to understanding, and I’ll be honest to a bit of mind-boggling in some of my less politically and economically-minded friends. It’s given me a nice outlet.

What are your future plans?

For my column, to write an article either on the National Health Service or on Zimbabwe. In life? Use this year to prepare for university- apply, re-take certain exams, earn money to go, and just prepare generally. It’s going to be a rather hard year.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?
In all things, I believe in freedom- pure and simple. I happen to believe that this is best achieved by free exchange in the free market, and that you can do what you wish to do so long as you don’t infringe on the freedom of others. It teaches honour, and it teaches most importantly understanding. Just remember the phrase- “over his own mind and body, the individual is sovereign” by John Stuart Mill (I seriously recommend On Liberty by him). But also, importantly, a quote from the Electrical Physicist Nikola Tesla- “Our virtues and failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they seperate, Man is no more.” Live honestly!

Last 5 posts by The Pakistani Spectator

• Interview with Blogger Tikun Olam - November 30th, 2008
• Interview with Blogger EngSpeak - November 29th, 2008
• Interview with Blogger Jeff Noble - November 26th, 2008
• Interview with Blogger Jan Marshall - November 24th, 2008
• Asif Zardari: ‘India & Pakistan Share Blood Ties’ - November 24th, 2008