In the course of my tenure here, I've oft been up late. I'm elderly by mileage, so I should have had my tapioca and Wapner by now.

Do you know who you are? Do you know what humility is? How accountable are you really, for your online presence?

Nearly everyone is a villain, in time. I defer to someone far more expressive than I:


As the years tick by, I'm no longer surprised at how weird shit is.

Yes, friend. Everybody knows.

I thought this was going to be a reference to Firefly...

It is indeed a Firefly reference. I could also go Simpsons with "Old man yells at cloud."

I've got a pile of stuff goin' on, and a mess of old back pain to drag around while I do the work of speaking truth to people who should hear it.

At least one of those things has already turned, after everyone got over my unique charm and saw the truth of the matter.

Old injuries are tough, I can only speak for myself, but I have a real hard time with getting real treatment. I'm terrified of opioids, for some reason the thing that works which is muscle relaxants they are tight fisted about. I dare not bother with devil lettuce here in MA, everything else is insufficient.

What was I on about in my post? People and the shit they say on "social media." A forum like this is technically social media, but it has one key component that is entirely missing from modern platforms. Accountability, and consequence. This also varies by the forum...

The profit model of almost everything from FB on, is built to erode social discourse for profit.

While I learned a long, long time ago I only really need a few friends, even my antisocial ass can see it's all headed to a bad place. Or really, a badder one.

Soon the only question left will be "Who runs Barter Town?" at this rate.

quote:

Do you know who you are? Do you know what humility is? How accountable are you really, for your online presence?

Do I know who I am? Yes.

Do I know what humility is? Yes, you look up the word "humility" in the dictionary and you'll see my picture next to it. My humility is something I am very proud of. Because you can't be proud of being humble, what's the point of being humble then?

Am I really accountable for my online presence? I'm not going to run for an elected office so I don't really have to be accountable, do I?

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Am I really accountable for my online presence? I'm not going to run for an elected office so I don't really have to be accountable, do I?

You should act like everything you say online can come back to you. Most people do not. Most social media platforms either don't tell you of the risk, or dismiss it.

When you interact with the internet, it is forever. Fellas... keep this in mind.

I'm just some guy, now, and always. But in the past I've had phone calls from States Attorneys. People can and will turn what you post into something a govt agency has to look into. Is it because you've done something wrong, or because they don't like you? You might not have the resources to fight a charge, or the charge alone could ruin you.

So here we are, where accountability should drive online behavior, but anonymity protects you from zealots. I want off the Merry Go Round.

But yet, brighter days are ahead. I say that with all respect.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Am I really accountable for my online presence? I'm not going to run for an elected office so I don't really have to be accountable, do I?

You should act like everything you say online can come back to you. Most people do not. Most social media platforms either don't tell you of the risk, or dismiss it.

When you interact with the internet, it is forever. Fellas... keep this in mind.

I don't know how to put this without possibly offending you but... things on the internet being forever is not quite the earth shattering news in 2023 as it may have been in 1993.

I've managed to reach that point of my life when anything that can come back to me are powerless echoes from the past. I'm as far inland as any tsunami hitting the beach might as well be the ebb and flow of gentle waves lapping on the beach.

Accountability really isn't what drives behavior online or in real life. You should already know the saying, "locks serve only to keep honest people out." The locks don't make honest people accountable. it's not the accountability of consequences that keep honest people honest; it's their inner nature that makes them accountable and drive their behavior. Their inner nature may have been forged with the help of consequences in the past but it's still that attribute of their inner nature that allows consequences to make a lasting impact.

I'm in the phase of my life I describe as being in God's waiting room where I'm reading National Geographic, watching the TV screen, maybe making small talk with the other people in the room. I'm just waiting for the call, "Rey? God will see you now."

I'm content and ready to die. I was already ready to die 13 years ago but that was because I wanted off this merry go round of a world which isn't so merry. But now, I'm ready to die because I've achieved what I needed to achieved and I've reconciled with the missed opportunities and the opportunities that never even materialized. I hope the same for you.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I don't know how to put this without possibly offending you but....

Oh my dear sweet summer child. Offending me? It's fair to say that no one cares if I'm offended, but people who try to stand out. Anyone trying to offend me is a sad fool. I can't hurt anyone, so cannot be hurt. But I'll do it here, where reputation has meaning.

I've long been a cynic, and sarcasm will show truth before humor. All this tolerance and acceptance sure has a puzzling march against speech.

I'm not worried about me.

Oh but I still remember...

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river...

you know that she's half crazy..... she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China....

And you want to travel with her and you want to travel blind.... and you know you can trust her
for she's touched your perfect body with her mind.

I just realized what it is about Leonard Cohen's music.... it will make you high / stoned with out any help from chemicals.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I don't know how to put this without possibly offending you but....

Oh my dear sweet summer child. Offending me? It's fair to say that no one cares if I'm offended, but people who try to stand out. Anyone trying to offend me is a sad fool. I can't hurt anyone, so cannot be hurt. But I'll do it here, where reputation has meaning.

I've long been a cynic, and sarcasm will show truth before humor. All this tolerance and acceptance sure has a puzzling march against speech.

I'm not worried about me.

Between the two of us, if you want to look the sweet summer child in the eye, you’re going to have to look in the mirror. For example, you thought the bigger import of my post was my concern about offending you while you were non responsive to my point that your warning about the forever-ness of internet postings is as timely as as warnings against emails from Nigerian custom officials offering to split millions of dollars with you.

And even as I expressed concern about offending you, you contradict me and call me a liar by claiming no one cares if you’re offended. I wear the t-shirt that says, “0 days without sarcasm” and am very fluent in that language; it’s actually my native tongue.

Not wanting to offend you isn’t tolerance and acceptance; it’s merely kindness which is the religion I practice. My point that your warning was so 1990s refutes your notion of acceptance and tolerance on my part.

Profundity is more than the ability to string together words encountered as the answers to the clues in a crossword puzzle book bought in a grocery check out line. As Lex Luther said, “some people can read "War and Peace" and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe.” Or as I like to chide people who think they are making me swim in the depths of their intellect, that the top of my toes aren’t even wet in the spot where they’re doing deep dives. They’re like the guy in the formal event dressed all nice in their tuxedo with their fly wide open. They don’t realize that when I’m on the same level of condescension from where they are speaking down to me, I had to use shorter words in a language they can understand, oh sweet summer child.

I’m glad you cannot be hurt.

I cannot.

How many people do you know who have weathered what I have, and stick around?

People have been trying to hurt me for a long time. I'm not talking about spicy words in a discussion, I mean actual people trying to find out who I am personally and attack me. One has achieved true notoriety when someone tries to dox them or sic local authorities.

What have I ever done to anyone online, except speak to them, in text. Text is a problem, it is without emotion. I've always wrote as I speak, and it comes off _hard_. Oh well.

Anyone who can hear an opposing viewpoint, process and respond to it without losing their shit, may well find themselves someone I consider a friend. I don't need more friends. I'm content with the level of "notoriety" I achieved.

What is lost, perhaps irrevocably in discourse today is that people don't want their ideas challenged. Only the echo chamber will do. Well. The echo chamber is a shitty Easy Bake Oven. Facebook, twitter and the like, are shiny toys for emotional children.

At this rate, humanity will kill itself before we ever "kill the planet." The planet will be fine, only Carl Sagan's ghost will be disappointed.