It’s 2025, the world is in chaos, systems are failing, news organizations are struggling, and the people are suffering.
There is so much bullshit out there, much of it from AI, but hey, I want to be fair to those people I know who keep telling me “Dude, it’s not AI, it’s the people!” because yeah, it is the people using AI… And why are they using AI? Because they want or need money. Any why do they want or need money? It might be because we live in a Capitalist Hellscape.
So now, more than ever, if you have the means, if you have a little bit of spare time, if you are willing to share you experience… Do it. Please. Do it. Be a human voice.
I know, you’re worried “But Pete, I am not an expert, I don’t have any expertise to share!” And I’ll remind you of what I said nearly 20 years ago…
You are the expert at your own experience.
This was my pitch for getting people involved in the first BarCampMilwaukee. I remember someone saying “Well, I’ve installed Linux and I use it, but I’m no expert.”
My response: You are the expert at your own experience. No one knows more about your own experience than you do. You’ve installed Linux? Congrats! You know more about it than someone who has never installed Linux.
One thing I learned about teaching is that you just need to know more about a subject than the person you are teaching. That’s it. If I know more about making pizza than you do, I can share that information with you. That information is going to be based on my own experience.
I am not a professional pizzaiolo, and there are thousands or millions of people who are better than I am at making pizzas, but if you know me, and you trust me, then perhaps you would read my Pizza Advice and find it somewhat useful. If I got something wrong, tell me. I want to learn.
Now, back to the AI slop mentioned above. I’ve been publishing/writing for four decades. I didn’t do it for money or fame, I did it to say something, to be heard, to connect with people, and I am not chasing dollars by writing this. Again, I have some privilege. I can host my own web site, I can spend 20 minutes a day not working for money to take a break and write this.
So get that blog going. Dust off the old one, start a new one… Post on the free and open Internet. Fuck Twitter/X, Fuck Facebook, Fuck those Fuckers who will lord over your content, hide it, delete it, and try to erase you.
And if I’ve done anything today, I’ve shown that it’s okay to go on a rant every now and then…