Welcome and some thoughts on anonymity on the internet

Welcome!

While I have been blogging publicly for more than a dozen years, this is a new venture for me. It is a lot more controversial in some ways than what I have written in the past and consequently it is the first time I have done any blogging anonymously using a pseudonym.  I am not linking to my regular blogging venues nor my social media accounts and am not even using my own name. Before I start posting on the main topics I am interested in, I thought I should talk a bit about why I am posting this way.

I am old enough to have been in the vanguard of the internet explosion which led to the blog world where anyone and everyone can publish their thoughts for the world to see and from there to the social media world. In general I have never been a fan of anonymous posting on the internet. My position is that if you believe in what you are saying, you should have the courage of conviction to stand behind it publicly. If you are unwilling to say who you are when you say something, maybe you ought not say it. So it bothers me to be putting my opinions and rantings out for public dissemination while seeming to hide behind a pseudonym.

It would be nice to be able to write whatever one wants without concern over retaliation.That isn’t the world we live in. If I were a single guy, a loner with no one to hurt and nothing to lose, it wouldn’t matter much but thankfully I am not. Quite the contrary, I have a wife of many years. a household full of kids and a job. While I don’t think my job would be impacted by using my real name, you never can tell in this world. I am quite certain that writing what I plan on writing using my real name would lead to all manner of threats, harassment and even outright harm to my family. You can do whatever you want to me but I don’t see the value in dragging my kids and wife into the fray. When they get out on their own they can do what they want but while they are in my home their safety and well-being is my top priority and my calling as a father. You might see that as a cop-out or hypocritical. That is your call.

So that leaves me with three options. One is to use my real name and take my chances. As stated above that isn’t feasible or prudent for family reasons. Two is to just keep my opinions to myself and that isn’t palatable given the state of the world in general and America in particular. So that leaves me with this compromise. Maybe someday that will change but given the trajectory of the U.S. I really doubt it.

A brief note on my pseudonym. I used the name of a character I played in a MMORPG for many years, El'geherg, although I am currently inactive in that game. I happened to have an email set up with that name to keep my gaming stuff distinct from my real life and already had a Google profile so it was relatively quick and painless to use. 

So that is that. Now on to the main event!