In Reply to: You can't have it both ways. posted by Michael.Walter.Cronin on May 01, 2024 at 12:00:05
If we were in a civilized society where the price to pay for taking an unpopular position had been merely to be exposed to an opposing point of view or people telling them that they don't appreciate their protest, sure, I'm with you. If you're dishing out an opinion, you should be able to take it, and we can all move on without serious consequence.
That, however, is not how real life works. There is a reason why protestors under an authoritarian rule take extra precautions to cover their identity and will not goaded into exposing themselves no matter how many times you call them cowards because that's the smart thing to do.
"But we're not an authoritarian society" you're gonna probably say, to which I'll respond (a) perhaps not at the moment, but I suspect thing will change in November, and (b) what we have done is to outsource the authoritarianism to individual vigilantes. These kids are getting threats that state that if their identities are discovered, their professional lives are over and they have no legal protections against that. This is a brand new world with very different ground rules.
So not at all cowardly, but a sound and rational choice.
Let me also point out the irony that you are making this accusation of cowardice while posting under a handle (perhaps more than one) on an anonymous forum as presumably a well established person in real life, stating an opinion that would not really get anyone in any real trouble. Is it not cowardice to post anonymously on an anonymous forum or do you actually have a good reason to separate the act of expressing your personal opinions from your personal life and real identity, teh same way that a majority of people do on this board?