It's not the NSA_SUSPICIOUN_INT rising I worry about. I am certain that individual monitoring of the average hobo like your or me (I don't know maybe you're actually a TOR dev or something) isn't happing, BUT someday you may become an interest to the police for something and THEN they look at your posting history and THEN they will find your possibly less sensitive comments on how you hated such and such and put some horrible out of context quote in big print on a poster at your trial when the prosecutor makes his case for why you should be in jail for the rest of your life for something you may or may not have actually done.
And so I use anonymous accounts to post things other than nice happy words relevant to my job so they don't show up in search results. I create new accounts and stuff. I can be pretty opinionated and I don't want the average person googling my very googlable name and seeing my stupid uninformed opinions and using that to misinterpret me or something.
I would much rather post anti-government opinions with my name attached than anonymously. As much as we complain about the NSA, we do in fact still live in a free society with a right to habeas corpus. Should you ever find yourself at trial, where the prosecutors try to turn "anti-government sentiment" against you, would you rather it be written behind an anonymous pseudonym or your real name? If they're going to find it regardless, then at least with your real name attached, you have the credibility of your persona, which you should confidently feel is worth something to a jury.
It's much easier to argue a case for freedom of speech when it doesn't appear you're trying to hide something. After all, who would attach their name to an opinion he didn't want people to know he held?
Furthermore, I'm proud of my opinions. If I'm going to perpetuate them, I'm going to do it with my name attached. God willing, should I ever have to defend those opinions in court, I will proudly and defiantly do so. Hiding behind a pseudonym strikes me as needless cowardice in the face of yet manifest oppression.
This anti-government, anti-NSA, anti-1984 rhetoric is healthy and valuable, but let's keep our emotions in check and avoid overdramaticizing the situation. We don't live in a police state. Yet. If we ever get to that point, I would like to have my trail of opinions to fall back on and use to defend myself.
I have been on Reddit for eight years, and only came out with my name today. People should be encouraged to use aliases for any number of reasons. To name a few:
* You should be able to express an idea without that idea being attached to a known identity (partly because people may judge the idea based on the known identity)
* You should be allowed to "start over" (heck, I might want to start over soon)
* In the face of an Orwellian government or an unaccepting society, you should be able to safely express your true opinions
While I can admire your stance, I think it is naive and doesn't reflect reality. Look at how weev's statements on reddit were used against him at his trial. Also if you look at the people involved in NinjaVideo, an illicit online streaming site, you will find that prosecutors also used their online statements against them. Employers will use your online statements to create a profile of you that influences their decision to hire you or not. There's no way I'm using my real name to say I like the idea of a guaranteed basic income or that I like Hillary Clinton for office, because America is polarized. We do not live in a police state, but your statements can haunt you in many ways. They can hurt you at criminal trials, civil trials (like a divorce), they can hurt you with employers and potential employers, they can hurt your academic career (finding a school), they can hurt your family.
I am not proud of my opinions, I think I'm probably mistaken about most of the opinions I have, and I think this because of past experience and bad opinions that I now regret expressing.
If you're already the victim of intimidation, there are only two viable options: give up, stop making waves (not my recommendation, but I won't fault anyone for prioritizing their income/economic security/family) -- or be more vocal and outspoken. That's how such things have been stopped, and brought to light before.
Eg, see: "Pete Seeger - Black List" for some historical context and inspiration. This abuse of power isn't new, not in the US and not in Europe.
OT/ I'd really like to hear your story, even if you were to leave out identifying details. Were you using a pseudonym? What political area were you being "overly vocal"? How did they intimidate you?
And so I use anonymous accounts to post things other than nice happy words relevant to my job so they don't show up in search results. I create new accounts and stuff. I can be pretty opinionated and I don't want the average person googling my very googlable name and seeing my stupid uninformed opinions and using that to misinterpret me or something.