Welcome to Sean Pratt's Publications

This web site was created to publish my essays, opinion editorials and poetry. I have submitted my work to numerous magazines and newspapers. However, with the exception of local newspapers (like The Brockton Enterprise and the The Metro) only 1000 Watts Publications has published my work. My thought was that it would be better for me to self-publish my content. No more concerns about censorship, at least for now.

As a sidebar here, please know that efforts are always underway to control content. The Internet is the last bastion of free expression, next to physically printing, binding and distributing one’s own work. Yet, even a manual effort like that faces local ordinances of solicitation, contradictory federal laws, and the inevitable bites from the sharks that swim about when something becomes a popular commodity.

Perhaps you have heard of the efforts to instill a tiered system to the Internet (also known as the Net Neutrality Issue)? This would be a lot like cable television with a basic tier, premium channels and pay-per view options. Except with the Internet, certain news outlets and stores would be faster and more secure and sites like mine would be slower. Anyone who designs web sites knows that if a page does not load correctly within 30 seconds, that a viewer may lose interest and go elsewhere. Likewise, a site that is not easy to navigate will create disgruntled users.

Consider also how hard copy books are distributed now. There is a book called Selling Free Enterprise: the business assault on labor and liberalism, 1945-60 by Elizabeth A. Fones-Wolf, published in 1994. I heard Noam Chomsky discuss the book in a speech and I became curious. My library did not carry it, nor did any library in the Old Colony Library Network. I decided that I would buy it and could not find it in Barnes & Noble. I tried to order it and waited several weeks for it to come in. Barnes & Noble gave me the number for the book repository in California, who in turn gave me the run around for a couple of weeks; promising to send it but never fulfilling the order. I finally gave up and bought a used copy from Amazon. As it turns out, this is an extremely important book that skillfully details how the wealthy have been pounding a capitalist fantasy into our heads for decades. The point of this story is that books are no longer officially censored they are just made unattainable to everyone. I had to go through hoops to get this book and in the end I had to purchase it online. So the poor will never read it for free and the working class risk identity theft to buy it.

Thus, no matter how well I design this site I do risk having the content become unattainable to the average viewer. I would have to invest money into advertising and paying off the ISPs to make sure my content is available to have a chance if the Internet becomes tiered. Yet, I am sure this will not be the only way to control content on the Internet. We are only seeing the beginnings of this attack on web communication freedom. The sad part is that the news does not report on the laws that go through Congress that eventually have a lasting effect on access to information.

.: A little About Me

I returned to school in 2005 to earn a bachelors degree in Computer Science. I found my true political voice in the essay assignments and research. Prior to this I spent years posting debates, essays and diatribes on political message boards under the pseudonym Taomon. You may wonder why I chose the name Taomon and for the record, this has nothing to do with Digimon.

I created the moniker Taomon back in the mid 1990’s when I accessed the Internet through America On-Line. I moved on from AOL to Juno and Taomon became my email address in addition to my chat room/message board persona. When Digimon came out with the Taomon character, web searches for my writings became clogged with toys and anime junk. But such is the nature of the Internet.

Tao derives from Chinese philosophical religions. Tao translates to The Way, a guiding principle of reality.

Mon is Rastafarian for wise man or friend and invariably connects to monism.

The meaning I created for the word Taomon when I conceived of it was literally “Wise Friend of the Way.”

I am the original Taomon.

I will be posting my papers from school, opinion pieces from news syndicates (such as the New York Times, al Jazeera, the BBC, the Washington Post, and even FoxNews), poetry, and short stories, all of which I have written, read or have a commentary on. I have been writing political analysis unofficially for years. My audiences hail from the farthest reaches of the globe (thanks to the Internet). I have made many friends and a few enemies. My work has been both heralded and despised. After reading some articles or creative work you will be confronted with emotions depending on your perspective. That is the secret to my writing skills; whether I am writing poetry or a serious dissertation my work is emotionally charged and invokes a plethora of feelings within the reader.

I am hoping that you stick around. Even if you do not agree I would like very much to hear why. How else can we learn from each other and gauge fairness? Compromise is the only way that our political system can work. Listening to opposing views is vital to this principle.

On the left of this page you can see the navigation bar. These buttons have drop down menus for my various works.  In addition, each sections has a main page where you will also find links to my various works.  In other words, clicking on the Poetry button will bring you to that page where you will find links to my poems or if you hover your cursor over the button a drop down menu will appear.

Also, you can contact me here if you have comments or concerns. Anyone planning to use my writing as a resource should remember to always cite your sources. Keep in mind that I will be citing my resources as most of my writing derives from school. If you were using verbiage that I am citing from another source, it would be best to cite that source as well in your paper.