A reader belatedly decides that I was right to keep my
family out of the public eye:
Just wanted to share
with you what I've learned about keeping things private and especially keeping
your children out of the social media world and all of that. One of the first
times I saw you was on Jesse Lee Peterson, and when Jesse asked you about your
kids I soured on you. He merely asked how many you had or how old they were,
absolutely casual and normal questioning, but you went a bit quiet and hesitant
and replied that you didn't like to talk about your kids. I thought it was a
bit rude and it sliced through the fun and camaraderie you two (and us in the
audience) were enjoying.
I didn't think anything ill of you for something that simple, but it seemed a
strange quirk or issue, I wasn't sure. But I read more of your blog, and have
watched nearly every Darkstream since, and thought your rule about banning or
ignoring the questions about yourself or your family were a bit overboard. Not
because I didn't know how much you're hated by the SJW demons and how badly
they would love to get any info on you they could to hurt you, that is obvious
and I respect that justification for privacy. But the cloak around your family
was extreme, again just insofar as even relaying an anecdote or being able to
share memories about them as part of the dialogue, since a decent chunk of the
community talks about the family and marriage cornerstones.
Well, here I am realizing how right you were, because my brother posted a
picture on his FB of him holding a can of Goya from his truck's cargo. He was
smiling and posted it saying thank you to the President for appreciating the
company and about how simple things like what Goya produces are taken for
granted. A message of decency and gratitude, and the insanity that follows I
still can't believe. This vile woman went trawling through his FB, found pics
of his kids with their school either captioned or mentioned, and contacted the
fucking school to tell them their dad was dangerous, that he was a racist, blah
blah. This nonsense took a few days to sort out as my brother had to return
from his job, and he let the school have it for even entertaining this
bullshit, and got them to apologize to him. It's not a typical cancel culture
ending, thank God, but the fact that he had to go through this shit in the
first place!
Now I think about this, about my brother who is barely even political but just
said thanks to the President for supporting a large company. That's freaking
it, nothing else on his FB, only pics of their family, dogs, etc.! So I thought
back to you, about how you had reacted to Jesse, and how I misjudged you and
didn't FULLY appreciate what these monsters would like to do to you. I not only
respect you shutting all inquiries about your family down, I admire it.
Fair enough. Now, I will readily admit that
there is only so much you can do, what with public records and curious fans and
naive friends and family members who don't understand how there could possibly
be any harm in posting innocent pictures where no one is doing anything even
remotely objectionable. And eventually, your children are going to grow up and
live their own lives.
But there is no reason to make it easy for the
stalkers and trolls and would-be harassers to chronicle your life, and the
harder you make it for them, the more likely it is that they will cross a
criminal line that will give the police, or at least the social media police, a
reason to crack down hard on them. And, more importantly, living a public life
online should be the child's choice, not the parent's.
It's too bad, because
what parent isn't proud of their children and eager to share their achievements
and accomplishments. But the world has changed, we now live in a no-quarter
culture that refuses to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, and
it is vital to understand that even as we embrace the conflict.
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2020/07/mailvox-importance-of-family-privacy.html
