Blogging and Earning

Mediocrity encroaches on everything. That is a natural law. Religions become mere trade of illusions and delusions under mediocre priests and other leaders. Politics becomes trade of power. Writing becomes a similar trade too. The true worth of each of these is brought down to the quagmire of pedestrianism by mediocre people who always rule the roost, thanks to the natural human craze for power and wealth.

Blogging has not escaped this fate either. Much of what you get these days on blogs is just uninspired pettiness that masquerades as supernatural wisdom. Almost every blogger you meet these days is an expert on something like parenting, nutrition, or lifestyle. There are good writers among them, of course as there are good religious leaders and good politicians too.

“Is it correct to always convert a passion into a profession?” That is the question raised by an eminent blogger, Arvind Passey, at Indiblogger, a blogger’s community. “Does this destroy the essence of blogging?” He goes on to question. “Must earning money be the final aim of blogging?”

Earning money cannot be the final aim of anything except trade, I think. But I hasten to add that money is not a bad thing at all and there is nothing wrong in earning it through bona fide means. A writer is surely entitled to his material rewards, why not?

From Cartoonstock

But Passey is raising a relevant question. Money should not be the ultimate goal of writing or any profession. The nemesis that is haunting our civilisation today is, thanks to the spread of capitalism as the (only?) universal principle, commercialisation of everything from spirituality to health care, everything from the soul to the body.

As a result of that commercialisation, the hospitals have become killing places and religions have become comic perversions. I would wish writing to remain above that commercialisation. What is writing worth unless it is authentic? We live in difficult times. Genuine journalists are forced to leave their platforms or even profession because of political pressures in India today. There is threat to the very life of genuine writers. In spite of all that, I believe it is the duty of a writer to retain his authenticity. The real question is not about converting passion into profession; it is about the necessity of authenticity – whatever the profession is.