The Pakistani Spectator

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?
I grew up on a farm in Tasmania (the most southern state of Australia) and studied Agricultural Science followed by Sociology and Political Economy. My early aim was to join the Food and Agricultural Organisation to fight World Hunger however I discovered that the problem is not food production but political instability and bad economic policices. My sites are dedicated to spreading the word on classical (non-socialist) liberalism to address those twin problems. The main platform is my website  and I blog on some group sites, especially Club Troppo.

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

You should keep learning and as you learn more you should be able to write more clearly. It is important to write clearly because if people can’t understand what you are saying you are wasting their time and yours as well.

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

The best experience was finding out how easy it is to generate short posts after I spent so many years writing draft after draft of long articles.

What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?

In addition to reading their blogs and exchanging emails, most years we get together for a big party.

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

Most of the coverage of politics right now is frightening. I mean the economically illiterate and ill-informed commentary that is biased to one party or the other. This has nothing to do with technology and I don’t know how innovative use of technology can help.

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

No comment.

What do you think sets Your site apart from others?

The range of content on my website is unusual for a solo site. As for my blogging, I try to use a light touch with  some humour and the absolute minimum of  hostile and personal abuse.

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

Being prepared to be interested in a lot of problems, and following the problems wherever they lead regardless of the boundaries of specialised subjects and disciplines.

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

The happiest moment was when I captured 6 wickets for 26 bowling slow off spinners. The gloomiest moment was when the eight ball over was replaced by the six ball over:)

If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?

London, Prague and New York.

What is your favorite book and why?

“The Open Society and its Enemies” by Karl Popper. This is written in the form of a critque of Plato, Hegel and Marx but it is much more than that, it is an exposition of some classical liberal principles that represent the best hope for a civilised future. There is some weakness in the economics because Popper was a social democrat when the wrote it. It is so important that I have done a summary and running commentary so busy people don’t have to read the full 800 pages of the two volumes.

http://www.the-rathouse.com/OpenSocietyOnLIne/AATheProjectwithIndex.html

What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?

Whether or not they make eye contact.

Is there anyone from your past that once told you you couldn’t write?

No, but some people suggested that I  could write better and so I kept on trying harder.

How bloggers can benefit from blogs financially? 

I don’t see any personal prospect of that.

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

All the bloggers who I know are busy people and blogging is only a part of their daily activities.

What role can bloggers of the world play to make this world more friendlier and less hostile?

We can be more polite in our disagreements.

Who are your top five favourite bloggers?

The Austrian Economists http://austrianeconomists.typepad.com/weblog/

Organizations and Markets http://organizationsandmarkets.com/

Tim Blair  http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php

Andrew Bolt http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php

Thinking Out Aloud http://erudito.livejournal.com/

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

No.

What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?

I see Pakistan as a tragically divided country and in that respect it is a microcosm of the world.

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

No.

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

Probably the expectations of the mass of the people. In developed countries all but the very poorest people can expect to live a life of safety and comfort that would have been the envy of kings and princes a few centuries ago. That is still a distant prospect for the mass of people in developing countries.

What is the future of blogging?

No idea.

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

So far my blogging has had practically no impact on my personal or professional life.

What are your future plans?

My major project is to explore the synergy of  Karl Popper’s ideas in partnership with the ideas of the Austrian school of economics.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?

Remember the battle for the fuure is a battle of ideas. And the ideas of classical liberalism are the keys to peace, freedom and prosperity.

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