action that bring about lots of consequences

my post ‘good man is bad man?’ refers. sorry, i’m not through with this topic yet. here i want you to ponder on something… the comments made by some people, especially in the PPS blog.

freddie chong asked: “tell, me…. what would you do if you suddenly hear that a lot of people think that your blogs are irresponsible, and want to shut you up? think carefully about this…. there are literally, millions of people out there in conservative cultures who think that all bloggers talk too much and should be shut up completely.”

feel scared that they will run to the police?

but freddie warned: “if someone says something that you find offensive, you must never ever resort to the invocation of central authority. you will basically be asking for, and legitimizing censorship through authority. this path once taken, can only slide into the chasm of forfeiture of all freedoms. this door once opened, can only pave the way for all sorts of unwanted restrictions in expression and thought.”

how right. it would look very stupid if people run to the police each time they find what someone said as offensive or seditious.

percolator of mudpond shuddered at the thought of bloggers invoking the sedition act on commenters, and chez78 wonder: “you will claim that we have nothing to fear as long as we are on the right side of the law. but can i trust bloggers, again, to decide whether what i say is on the “right” side, or the “wrong” side? man, will i even get an e-mail warning me that i will be banned? will i even get an e-mail warning that my IP information will be given out faster than santa claus on christmas day?”

scary, isn’t it? commenters will be very wary of posting comments then as they won’t know whether they are right or wrong… according to the blogger. am i right? am i wrong? and if i’m wrong, will i get a warning first? will i be reported to the police?

ong had a very nice way of putting it (see last para): “some bloggers who have won awards or built up their reputation over time have become overly obsessed with protecting their status and image, and decidedly attempt to withdraw themselves form the anonymous netizens, if only to boost thier own credibility. they have been overly ‘angkat diri’ (self adulating), and immediately withdraw into self-protection mode when threatened. the higher they rise, the more conservative they become.”

or wanna ‘angkat’ the authorities? actually i have no problem with self-adulating. after all, as someone says a little narcissm is necessary. what i have problem in is ‘angkat lain orang’. yeah, adulating other people, especially those who are popular (or of course higher authority). you know lah, some people like to stick to and adulate people who are popular. there’s another word/phrase for this… whatzzat… something like suck it up to them.

well, after shuddering in the mudpond, i now weep here. 🙁