Legislating "nice"

It seems that our friends in the Garden State have decide that people just aren’t being nice enough to each other on message boards, so some state officials would like to legislate it. Now before everyone gets their knickers in a knot, it would be interesting to look at this impartially. In a proverbial “perfect world”, there wouldn’t be all of the rudeness and intolerance that exists online. It is the anonymity of the Internet that blesses us with the ability to speak our mind without fear of repercussion (in most cases at least). That same anonymity allows people to more or less be their true selves, which in many cases, is not a very attractive thing. I would like to distinguish between perhaps stating something that may not be popular to many with general rudeness. In a sense it’s very similar to how many of us behave in our vehicles. We have a metal cocoon that insulates us from having to act with civility to others. (Again I understand that my generalizations certainly do not apply to everyone, and despite my protestations to the contrary, probably have applied to me on more than one occasion.) People do things to others on the roads that they would never do in person without their metal shell. The Internet is even more enabling, since you are pretty much untraceable (to the average message board poster at least, I don’t believe anything done on the Internet is actually anonymous). To summarize, a lot of people out there are jerks, and when they are freed to behave as they wish through a perceived removal from responsibility, well, we have all seen that. Many people are very considerate of others no matter the situation, but it just takes a few to really make things unpleasant.

Now to look at the proposed solution, they would have everyone provide a real name and address in order to post on specific web sites. I don’t know who proposes to maintain that information, but it sounds like a logistical nightmare, privacy concerns notwithstanding. Which is worse to us, having to deal with the name calling jerks on message boards, or having to hand out private, identifying information? I am sure that many message boards and websites already require that sort of information, but for the government to require it, or collect it, seems a little chilling. I am not naïve to the fact that for most of us, our personal information is already out there, ready for the taking by the technically semi-knowledgeable. That doesn’t mean that we should have to hand it out in order to post on a public website. It still seems like a silly piece of legislation, no matter how you slice it.

Indulge me for a bit...

These things are often called “glurges”, little stories that use overt hyperbole to make a point, but I don’t care, I am gonna share this one….


The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued: "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" He reminded the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers: "Those who can: do. Those who can't: teach." To corroborate, he said to another guest: "You're a teacher, Susan," he said. "Be honest. What do you make?" Susan, who had a reputation of honesty and frankness, replied, "You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor and an A- feel like a slap in the face if the student did not do his or her very best."I can make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence. I can make parents tremble in fear when I call home. You want to know what else I make?" "I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them write. I make them read, read, read. I make them spell 'definitely' and 'beautiful' over and over again, until they will never misspell either one of those words again. I make them show all their work in math and hide it all on their final drafts in English. I elevate them to experience music and art and joy in the performance, so their lives are rich, full of kindness and culture, and they take pride in themselves and their accomplishments. I make them understand that if you have the brains, then follow your heart...and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you pay them no attention.""You want to know what I make? I make a difference. And what do you make?"