I'll use the analogy of novel writers, but it applies equally well to other 'public informers.' Some people write for popular markets, they follow trends and hope to increase readership by clever marketing. Other writers are craftsmen who are in it for the joy of creation, their only wish is to craft a superior work and release it for the enjoyment of others. I am the second type, I write fiction because I love to craft a story.
Those who write for money alone will focus exclusively on the plot and accompanying demographic, combined with market surveys and trend analysis, while I sit at home, day after day fiddling with a sentence to find the smoothest verbiage, or reading old stories and asking myself WWKD (What Would Kafka Do?). Hacks make money, real writers don't. It's a rule as old as time. The only payment a real writer receives is the satisfaction of a job well done, and perhaps an entry in the logbook of history; a sort of road bump on humanity's path into the future.
The pseudonym can work to a writer's advantage, or it can hamper efforts to be taken seriously. Oftentimes handles convey a sort of criminality in the mainstream publishing world, it sounds silly but it's true. I do hope that some people preserve these records of discussion, because valuable information is bantered about, and the human species deserves as much information about the world as it can learn. Our performance on an evolutionary scale is fairly promising so far, and given a few million more years I could really see us going places.
One problem with speaking your mind on the net, even with a pseudonym - There are those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Say I wanted to propose a new style of government and a radical alteration to life as we know it, in the name of fairness, efficiency, and public cooperation. The reaction would be harsh, and I could feasibly be 'suicided' and the matter dropped. Or, if my death is an unwarranted risk, in the eyes of whatever 'They' I've offended, They would just take over my identity, ruin my credibility, wipe me out financially, and wash their hands of the whole affair. I think the best case scenario would involve being ignored, defamed by anyone profiting from straight capitalism, and becoming immediately surrounded with less than savory 'Picket Mates' like communists and nationalists. It ends badly any way you slice it. Nobody is filling the role of "Knowledge Bringer" because we're all so afraid of getting 'disappeared.' Or worse yet..crucified.
If I were to write anything remotely inspiring and forward looking, I would sincerely hope to find it survived me, and spread some common sense to the common man. With written words, my legacy can chip away at whatever tyranny arises, even though my voice is turned to dust. It also means that some part of your mind remains in the minds of others, which gives me hope for a lot of reasons.
By the way, good post! I hope you get many insightful responses that aren't quite so rambling as mine. When speaking about things like the future of mankind, I tend to suffer from diarhea of the mouth.
