You are correct Kevin that the blog is introspective, it is about a 9 month journey and it is meant to be growing of a mind with attention turned inwards to my own writing. The line "a Society of Thieves" is no different to Seth Godin's line "Steal an Idea" - except what I am alluding to is the creation of original thought. I don't know whether I am even capable of sustaining that and nor do I want the traditional view of the blog to rob me of that opportunity. There is one question of course that I find about original thought, such as why in our society like ours have not seen another William Shakespeare?

What I am saying is that it is OK to write a blog that does not need to be read by anyone but yourself. I accept that there will be comments and neither do I disagree with your assertion that it is legitimate to share and give ideas, I thoroughly welcome that, steal away if that is what people want to do.

This blog however fails the moment it becomes one more blog of mainstream popularity, in that failure is an abortion of original thinking and that can only occur IMHO if we truly do live in a society of thieves. Maybe we don't live in such a society but only time will tell. Beyond that this is a provocative statement and if I didn't make it I would be writing about how I should be eating banana's, it is easy to pay my psychic attention to banana's.

One more association to consider, you may know or not know that "Mark Zorro" was a pseudonym created at the Fast Company discussion boards over 8 or 9 years ago, when the concept of BRAND YOU first appeared - the idea that we can sell ourselves like a product (one that clearly by the creation of this pseudonym did not appeal to me). That too is a part of the society of thievery, for if brand dictates who we are, or at least where we to start to weave a life that no longer separates image from reality - then it is the very that Jiddu Krishnamurti was saying, that we cannot have a relationship with an image.

Beyond that it is interesting journey and I don't know what is going to be born of it. It is perfectly all right to fervently disagree because that is where I am differentiating a weblog from a womblog. The weblog is about telling society what is you think - a womblog is allowing ideas to flow from the mind and nurture over time (to incubate your own mind over nine months). I said in today's piece that "language matters" and that is something that I want to improve, so definition is important - if I came out here all defensive and unsure of myself then that would already be a lesson for me, but then again, what happens if I succeed, what does society do then - because when this nine months are over I intend to walk away into the night back to my regular life. So tomorrow morning I am going to be writing about POETRY, and you free to see what I mean by it - but I am not writing for a society of conspicuous consumption or benevolent sharing, I am writing for emergent thinking.

What emerges I do not know but whatever it is I most not lose my attention or be distracted by social curiosity or interest; and in doing so have something precious taken away from me, my own concentration. I actually agree with what you have said above, but you don't have to agree with me, because Kevin, for I do not attend give birth to twins and at the end of this, all I want is to emerge a wholesome and better human being - and if sitting silently and lurking is a better way to do that, then that would be, because I would have discovered that, this is the better alternative.

As the Bible says something a fool is known by his words and I do keep that verse in the back of my mind whenever I write......M.

The more I have meditated on this, the more I wonder why a "nation of people" is being equated here with digital natives. I have a respect for true digital natives because I think much more like them, except I wasn't lucky enough to born with them but unfortunately 20 years before them. The digital population is a very small segment compared to a nation of free people and this is still the same world that Newton Minnow was talking about in his 1961 "Vast Wasteland" speech. We need to be talking about this in relationship to the world and not treat the technology as a separate species, that somehow has become the "Nation of Free People". You have to forgive me but I operate at warp speed and so it is only by going back and reviewing the outputs of from that speed that I begin to draw such observation or alignment......M.

I appreciate your structured attempt at examining your thoughts and mindest. I for one believe such introspection is always good and productive -- even if subtly so. I personally find myself often siding with hope, and feel that many criticisms of today's world are misguided. While no new Shakespeare has emerge, other great writers have -- Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Michael Chabon, and Alan Moore -- to name a few. But, you are correct, that this journey is your own and are entitled to your opinion. I hope you stick around another 8 or 9 years.

Kevin, thank you for your response. You will see from my blog that the "Mark Zorro" trial of your site did not work out for me, and the only reason I am here is because Lynne D. Johnson was so enthusiastic about the site that I had to try it out, that gal is too good to turn down. I wanted to remain off-line this year to take stock of the past decade and at least I know that this is the right thing for me to do. In some ways, this has served as an opportunity to serve up "Mark Zorro" one last time, a pseudonym served me very well and while it became the MOST WATCHED profile at AlwaysOn during 2003 to 2005, it now feels like a natural closure of bringing back the very same profile to where it was originally created and in a way metaphorically aborting it. I will be back here in January 2009 using my real name profile but that participation will be solely business related. Very few people take the opportunity to go on a 10 year journey of exploration. In the ideal world the movie ends with a great punchline, but that is separates movies from real life. Even though I am not a Christian, I do admire the complete passage from Corinthians 1:13, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.". That to is what life is about, we can have great debates about what "Society of Thieves" is about but life is about growing up, and in a world of life-time learning it has never been so true. I will check back with you guys in January and all I can say is good luck with the site until then, and I look forward coming back next year as a more regular but discrete mortal :-)......M.

"We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things" Quoted from Barack Obama, Inauguration Address 2009.

M.