[Vision2020] Fiat Lux

[Art Deco]

All,

Re:  Identifying Posts.

Most of us generally agree that it is a mature and honest thing to sign one's posts or otherwise indicate authorship.  But there may be a very few excusable exceptions.  For example, a businessperson might wish to express a controversial opinion without worrying about being penalized business-wise.  There are, in fact, such anonymous posters.  I don't blame them.  Most of us who are controversial posters are generally not in a position to suffer economical reprisal because of our opinions although there have attempts to inflict such reprisal.

The inexcusable unidentified posters are those:

1.    Who have avowed public, like Christ Church Cult Master Douglas Wilson, that members of their organizations will no longer participate in V 2020 discussions, but do so either through nom-de-plumes or vicariously by prompting others.  These kind of actions are cowardly and dishonest (No surprise on this with respect to the Cult and especially Wilson!).

2.    Who are publicly figures/public officials/public opinion makers who seek to express opinions they are unwilling to own.  A fundamental belief of many of us is that:  once a person seeks or has attained a position where their opinions/actions influence public policy and actions, then we need to know exactly where they stand.  Hypocrisy, double talk, dishonesty, faint-of-heartness, unwillingness-to-risk-exposure of their opinions, cowardice, secrecy are anti-democratic, destructive forces that need to be exposed and exorcised.


Perhaps it is silly not to sign posts for another reason.  Given the numerous techniques available today for tracing and/or identifying the authorship of electronic documents,  a little work can identify the source of almost all emails, for example.


Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
deco at moscow.com



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Tom Hansen 
  To: Tbertruss at aol.com ; m1e2y3e4 at moscow.com ; vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 5:36 AM
  Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Fiat Lux


  When a person signs their name to a letter, posting, or article authored by him/her, it reflects maturity and responsibility on their part, just as failing to sign with the author's real name reflects immaturity and a strong lack of accountability.

   

  Take care, Moscow.

   

  Tom "I am" Hansen

  "What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."

  -- Robert F. Kennedy


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Tbertruss at aol.com
  Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 10:34 PM
  To: m1e2y3e4 at moscow.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fiat Lux

   


  All:

  There is a sort of unwritten rule (there really are no written rules for V2020 postings that I know of beyond the details of how First Step manages the list) that list serve members sign their name to postings.  This seems like a good idea to discourage people from mischief or deception, etc., yet in some cases people have legitimate reasons to remain anonymous.

  I thought the input by Fiat Lux was useful and informative.  I do not think the fact they did not identify themselves with their real name negates the value of what they posted.

  We have seen some rather nasty and strange anonymous postings on this list from souls most definitely up to mischief, but unless I missed something, Fiat Lux's postings were rather well behaved.

  Why have a cow over these anonymous postings?

  Hiding in the corner as I sign my name...  

  Ted Moffett



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