[Vision2020] Poster Biographies --

[Ted Moffett]

Saundra et. al.

Saundra's post on the risks of personal info placed on the global public
Internet is right on target.

But even if these broad risks are negligible, for the most part I am not
interested in the personal lives of Vision2020 subscribers.  I am interested
in discussion and debate on important issues and ideas, preferably
documented with facts, apart from an ad hominem approach.  More personal
info on the list might give more ammo to those who post personal attacks.
Digging up personal information on Vision2020 subscribers to attack them has
occurred numerous times.

Of course many subscribers are already in public life in government, or in
some other capacity, or have run for political office.  These subscribers
may consider their personal lives a critical issue deserving of public
exposure, given the current climate of political discourse.  Even in this
case, however, I find the obsession with politicians' (or others in public
life) personal lives in many cases a destructive and wasteful approach.  I
don't care, for example, to consider personal issues that can make or break
a politician, how wonderful a family a political candidate has, whether a
politician has had affairs while married or not, nor whether they go to
church or what their spiritual approach to life is,  What I want to know are
their professional capabilities for the job.  I don't determine who is a
good mechanic, airliner pilot or computer programmer based on their charming
husband or wife or children, sexual habits, or whether they go to church or
not.  Our current president is a prime example of a very flawed leader
with serious professional limitations who gained the White House on the
basis of a sort of personal good 'ol boy charm, coupled with powerful family
connections and a pious aura of religiosity, all factors that should have
been mostly ignored as essential criteria by the voters.  He won the White
House in part due to the public obsession with the "cult of personality,"
not his skills and knowledge to lead the most powerful nation on Earth

It seems in modern life that the boundary between personal and public lives
has become blurred to the point where there is such a lack of respect for
and recognition of the very idea of a truly separate "personal" life, that
it is being deconstructed out of existence.  And the "cult of personality"
that modern media and public life feeds with a frenzy, is mostly a fantasy
world that can make or break a politician, and makes huge profits for those
in the business of selling "personal image."  Paris Hilton, for example.

Consider the computerized data bases full of personal info now in existence
on nearly everyone, with info about you that you never consented to be
gathered and centralized, that is sold for profit in the corporate world.
Astonishing!

Ted Moffett

On 6/27/07, Saundra Lund <sslund at roadrunner.com> wrote:
>
> Visionaries:
>
> I think this is an *excellent* idea for those who choose to participate,
> and
> I've enjoyed reading the responses so far.
>
> But -- and I hope this doesn't count as a flame -- I'd like to remind
> folks
> to be cautious about the personal info they post in an open forum such as
> this.  Some folks have done a great job of safely answering the questions
> while others have put out information that makes me cringe -- it wouldn't
> be
> terribly difficult for a quasi-determined identity thief to run with some
> of
> the info posted.
>
> Remember, while it seems that only a handful of people participate, there
> are lot of folks subscribed who read but don't post, so we know nothing
> about them or their motives.  Further, the V2020 archives are open to
> everyone anywhere in the world.
>
> Pollyanna has already learned the hard way that not everyone here is who
> they say they are, and not everyone here has pure motives.
>
> So, in general, please think twice before putting personal information out
> on the Web, particularly in open forums such as this.  And, if you didn't
> take time to read the internet safety article I posted from the Daily News
> yesterday, it wouldn't hurt to do so *before* posting your bio.
>
>
> JMHO,
> Saundra Lund
> Moscow, ID
>
> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
> nothing.
> - Edmund Burke
>
> ***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2007 through life
> plus
> 70 years, Saundra Lund. Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce
> outside
> the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the
> author.*****
>
>
>
>
>
>
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