The Global Observatory was founded to provide an online outlet for my thoughts on a variety of issues, ranging from unrest in Africa to the current Democratic domination of the political sphere in the United States. While some of my previous forays into blogging have been very specific, pertaining to civil war in the Caucasus in one case and to the identity crisis in the South Asian community in America, this one is to be more general.

The problem with online blogging these days is that too many people are jumping on the wagon, from porn stars to the so-called political pundits, and these writers tend to imitate each other. Blogrolling has become the lifeblood and there seems to be an acute shortage of independent thinking.

Among political blogs, there’s either exclusively liberal bashing or conservative bashing, and writers on either side “follow their leaders” displaying a complete lack of introspection.If you’re conservative, then you have to be like Michele Malkin, or the Daily Kos if you’re on the other side. You can’t break out of the mold that’s been provided for you, or no one’s going to read you.

The same is true for blogs of all kinds. You have to quote your fellow bloggers. You can’t express your own opinions without quoting a pundit first. Why do I care what the Power Line bloggers are saying? Or Malkin or the Daily Kos for that matter? I have my own opinions and I can express them intelligently without having to seek the pundit’s approval, so to speak, before I can say anything.

Let’s see if I can live upto the goal of independent thinking that I have set for myself for this blog. Cheers!