The End Has No End
The time has come to put GOTS in its current form to bed. I started the site in January with the goal of creating a forum in which people who have influenced my thinking could have an opportunity to influence each other. There have been some great posts, and a few exchanges that made me happy that I gave this a try. On balance, however, I think this little experiment has run its course. Too often, the site has devolved into partisan bickering, opposition-baiting, and name calling. Simply put, I’m bored with it, and I bet you are too.

To everyone who contributed, I really appreciate the time and effort that you put into it. I, for one, often found my positions challenged or strengthened by what I found posted here.

Now, I said before that my plan was to put GOTS in its current form to bed. So, what’s next? I am going to leave the site as-is for a couple of days so that anyone who has contributed has time to log some final thoughts and copy anything that they would like to save off the site. Early next week, I will be removing all contributors from the site and starting something new. For the immediate future, I will probably be the sole contributor to the site, posting a piece ever other day or so. In the meantime, I will be trying to cultivate four to five regular contributors of short essays on politics, art, film, whatever.

I have not thought the structure of the site through completely, but I can promise that it will not be the combat zone that it is now. It is my guess that a few potential contributors were scared off by the thought of engaging in the Ultimate Fighting Championship that this site has become. If that is so, I hope that you will seriously consider contributing to the site in its new form.
- posted by Simon Marcus @ Wednesday, March 16, 2005