A Blog in the Age of Noise

A Blog in the Age of Noise: Writing for Thought, Not Applause

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

✍️ Author’s Note

This post began as a playful response to the Prompt’s question: “What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?” It quickly turned into a reflection on why I write at all, tracing my blog’s journey from a protest against selective multilateralism in 2003 to a personal canvas for ideas in 2025. The landscapes may change—world affairs, culture, politics—but the aim remains the same: to offer clarity in complexity and keep the little grey cells alive.

Letters to the Prompt

Dear Prompt,

This is one of those questions that demands a frank answer. Why do we write?
In my case, the answer is simple: because I enjoy it. That’s why I have a blog. It’s the same reason many of us work in certain jobs—because we find meaning in the work we do, provided our upbringing and education have prepared us to choose wisely.

How did it begin? At the turn of the millennium, in a moment of candour, I found it necessary to raise my voice against American foreign policy—particularly the Iraq war’s “multilateralism and international law à la carte.” Over time, that protest became a habit.

Since 2003, my blog has been my vantage point as a spectator of the human race for eight decades—a reflective space to share insights on life, politics, culture, and society. It aims, for better or worse, to foster dialogue around universal values and the challenges of our time.

Today, it has become my canvas—a place to test ideas against reality, to give structure to thoughts that otherwise remain half-formed. I write not for applause but for thought, mainly my own. Hercule Poirot might say I do it “to keep the little grey cells active.” If others find value in these words, so much the better.

I know the world is neither black nor white but a mosaic of many colours. It is not an easy place. It’s complex, messy, and often irrational—shaped by forces from artificial intelligence to climate change, from social media to political tribalism. These times call for a re-examination of values. Universal values, elusive as they may be, remain essential if we are to face the defining moment of our era with more than slogans.

My blog wanders through four main landscapes:

🌍 World Affairs – Reflections on international relations and the ever-returning cycle of war, which, as Will Durant observed, has not diminished with either civilization or democracy. From the promises and failures of Pax Americana to today’s uneasy balance of power, I examine the Transatlantic relationship, the Russian–Ukrainian war, the Middle East, and the perennial question of international justice.

📚 Culture & Humanity – Explorations of books, poetry, and music that have accompanied life’s journey. Reflections on aging, memory, wisdom, and wonder—drawn from eight decades of living. Also: conversations with my newest companion, the Prompt—sometimes playful, sometimes philosophical, occasionally provocative.

🌿The Fables of Power – Old grudges, new costumes, timeless quarrels – A satirical series in the spirit of Brother Inconvenience of the Abbey of Perpetual Delay, where nations become eccentric relatives, leaders turn into fairy-tale figures, and politics plays out as family drama. These fables are not predictions but parodies — reminders that behind the speeches, treaties, and quarrels, power often behaves like the oldest story of all: a family that cannot stop arguing.

🏛️ Politics & Society – Observations on national politics and the battle for the soul of nations, from the shifting role of the European Union to the turbulence of American politics. Also considered: the societal fault lines of gun control, capital punishment, and what I call the American Paradox—the coexistence of liberty and injustice.

So, what change would I like my blog to make?
If it can sharpen a reader’s understanding of these issues, even slightly—if it can encourage realism in a world that too often rewards emotion over thought—then it has done its work. We live in a time where disagreement is met not with debate but with metaphorical tarring and feathering. Against that, my blog seeks to honour the complexity of the human experience, to provoke reflection, and—on rare occasions—to coax a smile.

Netherlands, William J J Houtzager, Aka WJJH, August, 2025

📌 Blog Excerpt

In an age where noise drowns thought, why keep a blog? For me, it’s not about applause but about thinking out loud—sometimes on politics and war, sometimes on books and music, sometimes on the strange and wonderful business of being human. If you come away seeing the world in sharper focus—or smiling at its absurdities—then the words have done their job.