The End Of Anonymity

Sometimes I get stir crazy when surrounded by all those cell phone cameras, and the bloggers who, seemingly with computer mouse in hand, are ready to write about someone else in a very judgmental way. I was thinking about this lose of privacy today and concluded that it is impossible to be anonymous now. At least, if someone wants to display your life to the rest of the world, he or she can do it. The age of secrecy is gone, and it is not a good thing.
In the past, before the world was over-connected electronically, and before people became so enamored with their electronic communication devices, a person who hide when he or she had to. But now, every aspect of one's life is open for display. Who knows when cell addict will film your indiscretion and report it on You Tube, My Space or some other voyeuristic site.
I think it is healthy for us to be able to hide our mistakes, to be anonymous once in a while. It allows us to learn from our mistakes, not be embarrassed by having them put on display for purposes of ridicule or shock. But now we have to always be careful about what we say or do to anyone, even the most obsequious looking stranger. For, that person may be the one with the cell camera that will end our life of contented anonymity. Be deferential, or be on You Tube for all the world to watch.
I think that sad creature named Paris Hilton reflects the extremes to which the loss of anonymity can take us. Remember how Paris became "famous"? It was because a boyfriend showed a sex tape of Paris and he on line doing the nasty. The frolic had been filmed, and because privacy is no longer a sacred right, Paris will be forever branded by that tape and has become a cartoon character of the person having sex that day. She behaves as a buffoon because as a teenager she made a bad choice. It's not fair.
How many other indiscretions like Paris' sex escapade have happened to others? Many, but few of those were not filmed for public show. We make the same mistakes today as people did fifty years ago, but then there was less chance that others could find out. And that is good because we are not infallible creatures. Sometimes we need to make mistakes in private in order to grow in character. But life today has no closet in which to hide, and we can not leave some of our behaviors behind because of it. The cell phone cameras can brand us with our mistakes.
I blame it on the electronic devices we are enamored with, but also the tendency of people to "out" others because.....well.....they think it's "fun" to show other people at their worst. "Reality", like Reality TV. What we now have all about us are cell phone cameras with few responsible users. No one is ever truly certain of remaining anonymous because someone is always waiting to catch us in the normal indiscretions humans commit when learning to behave better.
And that is just not fair or good behavior. And since I wrote about this subject how about a real life example of how hard it can be to be private... How much is an empty dog food can worth? How about 1.5 million bucks, when it's Paris Hilton's can of gourmet pet chow. Scavengers from the Web site Hollywood Star Trash.com are auctioning off some of Paris' garbage. The poor woman can't even have a private garbage pail. The trashy people from Hollywood Star Trash.com say they were stunned when someone submitted the enormous bid in an eBay auction. The trash guys say the bidder's profile appears legit, but they've asked eBay to investigate. Other Paris Hilton trash items up for auction include a used toothbrush, an autographed postcard and a fan letter.
Ha! I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be identified as a Paris Hilton fan.