What In The Wide Wide World of Sports Is A-Goin' On Here? -OR- Big Yellow Taxi Took Away

I am an anonymous blogger. My reasons have nothing to do with not having the courage to stand up and defend my ideas, except in that I would prefer to do so on a level-playing field. I will stand and deliver to anyone who deigns to pose a question here. Challenge my ideas, not my existence. Anonymously, I don't hide behind the conferred honors or degrees of others that I may or may not possess. You and I are equals. My thinking has been shaped by everything I have experienced, as I've experienced it from myriad sources. I am free to accept or reject the opinions of others without prejudice. I expect NOTHING in exchange for my efforts.

Perhaps if I came from a different place, lived in a different place and interacted with different people, I would see things differently? I don't.

I don't get around as much anymore. I feel no need to travel very far these days. What I once went in search of I find locally or do without. I use the internet for information, research, entertainment, interaction and correspondence. I prefer the freedom and democracy the internet allows.

I've been online longer than most. I've watched online communities built and torn down across decades. I participated in the debates over how we measure progress across virtual platforms. I've lamented the losses each and every time the newest replaces the kludgy but functional old. I've wrestled with those who sought to dominate and control. I've watched the wedges being driven and the splintering that results. I've encouraged continuity and fairness.

Change has been both blessing and curse. Improvements in technology have been dizzying, but I am hardly obsessed or impressed with speed alone. I cheer access. I marvel at the portals at my fingertips. With so many open doors and welcome mats I feel no need to pry my way in to protected areas. I do not fear or automatically suspect the motivations that drive anyone else. I understand, only too well, that there are some who cannot handle their online activities responsibly, but I feel no need to be protected from them by restricting access for all. I vehemently resent being treated like a defenseless child and punished for the actions of others.

I firmly believe in our capacity to distinguish between and deal with benign annoyances as well as the necrotic or malignant who roam our virtual worlds without creating an online police state. As I do in the meat world, I appreciate and support the beneficial influences of reasonable rules and their enforcement. I push back against that which seeks only to control our freedoms.

So where is the problem? How am I a threat?

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