Pseudonyms and being anonymous is a good thing
For those of you who seem to think that being anonymous or acting under a pseudonym is a crime.
OpEdNews piece
No, the main purpose of anonymity or pseudonymity when writing of dirty politics and corrupt government is to protect the writer from the government of which they write. Another purpose is to reduce the chances of being ostracized by family, friends and neighbors for their views. It does not render an author a coward to write anonymously or pseudonymously.
Pseudonym-Americans Fight Back
Without these great Pseudonym-Americans the United States would not exist or, even worse, might be part of Canada today. Indeed, many great men and women in history used pseudonyms at one time or another.
The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780
The practice of writing under pseudonyms, which was common during the Revolution, has fallen into disfavor in recent times. Today one who chooses to withhold his identity from a published letter or essay is presumed to have something to hide. A person of integrity, it is now believed, will not be afraid to stand behind his views. The result is that one, and sometimes both, of two evils frequently mark contemporary debate: either the debate is inhibited because people do not wish to be associated with unpopular views; or the debate is uninhibited and irrational because ideas cannot be separated from the identity of the author.
You want more? Just look at the list of pseudonyms used in history!
Now tell me - is it really such a bad thing that people are using pseudonyms or anonymous accounts?
Other links or bits of interest:
NationMaster - Encyclopedia
"No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free, no one ever will. Chance is the pseudonym of God when he did not want to sign." - Anatole France
OpEdNews piece
No, the main purpose of anonymity or pseudonymity when writing of dirty politics and corrupt government is to protect the writer from the government of which they write. Another purpose is to reduce the chances of being ostracized by family, friends and neighbors for their views. It does not render an author a coward to write anonymously or pseudonymously.
Pseudonym-Americans Fight Back
Without these great Pseudonym-Americans the United States would not exist or, even worse, might be part of Canada today. Indeed, many great men and women in history used pseudonyms at one time or another.
The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780
The practice of writing under pseudonyms, which was common during the Revolution, has fallen into disfavor in recent times. Today one who chooses to withhold his identity from a published letter or essay is presumed to have something to hide. A person of integrity, it is now believed, will not be afraid to stand behind his views. The result is that one, and sometimes both, of two evils frequently mark contemporary debate: either the debate is inhibited because people do not wish to be associated with unpopular views; or the debate is uninhibited and irrational because ideas cannot be separated from the identity of the author.
You want more? Just look at the list of pseudonyms used in history!
Now tell me - is it really such a bad thing that people are using pseudonyms or anonymous accounts?
Other links or bits of interest:
NationMaster - Encyclopedia
"No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free, no one ever will. Chance is the pseudonym of God when he did not want to sign." - Anatole France