The main reason I tell people why I stopped active blogging last year was, as a new parent, I simply did not have the time or energy to do so. Raising a baby (now one year old) is very demanding and exhausting. Put on top of that the demands of working a full-time job and family life with my wife and you get the idea.

One thing I haven't said yet, which I will confess now, is that having obligations and responsibilities where people are depending on me to provide the livelihood for the family makes one afraid to take risks and put oneself out there as a blogger. Especially blogging about the things I care about -- political and electoral reform, exposing the anti-democratic tendencies within the two-party system, grassroots activism among independents and third-party advocates which casts a sympathetic nod towards political outsiders of all stripes.

Why I Stopped Blogging

I blogged for several years driven by passion and a sense of mission that there is something deeply wrong with the system that needs to be exposed. I proudly counted myself among the nationwide network of bloggers who regularly posted about these things. And then I stopped because I needed to focus on work, making a living, and taking care of my young family. One thing I never told anyone is I also stopped because I was afraid my blogging activities might cause me to get fired.

America always prided itself on promoting the ideals of political freedom, of speaking one's mind, and extolling the principles in the Constitution, especially the First Amendment that guarantees freedom of speech. I'm in America, I'm an American citizen -- no brainer, right?

My employer, (which will remain nameless) like the vast majority of nonprofit organizations in Washington, DC, maintains close ties with prominent leaders and politicians in the major, national political parties which I've spent the past few years writing critical articles about. It also has close relations and gets funding from foundations of prominent corporations -- the latter being a frequent target of my writings. I put two and two together and realized that if I were to remain open and brazen about my political beliefs online (I've corresponded with nationally-known journalists and prominent activists as a blogger) I can potentially put my job in jeopardy if I wrote something that causes some bigwig to complain to the boss. Add to that the designation of my job as an "at will" position where I can be terminated at any time for any reason and I realized there is no law protecting people like me from getting fired for political blogging. So I did what any rational person would do. I concentrated on work and kept a low profile about my politics.

Democracy Calls with #OccupyWallStreet

The recent rise of the #OccupyWallStreet movement and the rapid spread of #Occupy encampments nationwide in solidarity got me excited about political activism once again. This was a genuine, grassroots, populist movement that was spreading like wildfire and gaining tremendous popular support. Most of all, its message of representing the interests of the "99 Percent" and its explicit condemnation of a political and economic system where entrenched, moneyed interests have the cards stacked heavily in their favor to the detriment of the rest of us deeply resonated with me. Part of what also got me excited (as a web professional) is the #Occupy movement is heavily-driven by and makes extremely effective use of websites, social media and other online technologies. This was right up my alley -- practical use of technology and social media for explicitly political and small "d" democratic aims.

One can't just divorce the politics and beliefs driving the #Occupy movement with the technology. Yes, as a web professional, I am interested in the practical uses and best practices that the intelligent and resourceful folks at #Occupy have developed with these tools. But the tools are being utilized for a reason and these reasons and the fact that many, many people are passionate about these reasons is what is driving the movement and has expanded it.

With #Occupy gaining significant traction, the mainstream media has taken notice. The movement cannot be ignored and dismissed as just some fringe group anymore. People in technology circles and in mainstream organizations (like my employer) are also starting to take notice. I now see an opening to explore and write about where politics and technology meet in these movements as something that I can credibly argue is related to my job and what I do on my free time for professional development. After all, nonprofit organizations are highly interested in how to use social media and online tools to successfully mobilize their supporters. The #Occupy movement is an excellent, living case study of the use of these tools having enormously successful results! #Occupy has given me just the opening I need to pursue the aspects of politics and technology which I feel most passionate about. I intend to take full advantage of this.

Does this mean I'm back to blogging? We'll see. I do still have demanding family obligations that take up most of my time and energies. But this recent opening gives me the wiggle room I need to write about technology and politics in the open without fear (knock on wood!) of jeopardizing my livelihood. Thank you, #OccupyWallStreet!

One last note: this is definitely NOT what democracy looks like -- where a law-abiding citizen needs some sort of professionally-acceptable excuse as a cover to exercise one’s Constitutional right to practice one’s political beliefs, be open about political activities and not be afraid of losing one's job. But that is the subject for another blog post. For now, I'll take this opportunity and will run with it as far as I can take it.