🚀 go-pugleaf

> Why should the poster's identity matter to you?
>
> It may interest you to know that in many nations on this planet, it is
> against the law to hold an opinion at variance with the official views of
> government.  The punishment for breaking that law is death in the most
> oppressive of those nations.  I happened to live for several years in a
> country who elected its officials by a democratic process (truly it was
> democratic), but which had laws that had no tolerance for free thinking,
and
> which held the dubious distinction of being among the worst of nations
when
> it came to jailing or penalizing journalists.  (Guess which country that
> is....a valued ally of the United States, by the way.)
>
> Making sure the idea is circulated in the minds of the populace is more
> important than attributing that idea to an author, who may risk his life
or
> liberty in expressing those views.
>
> Debate the merits of the message rather than finding fault in the
messenger.
>
> MG

For over forty years I have had my "Great Books of the Western World" with
me.  Every book reflects a great thought and every great thought has an
author.  There are no great thoughts without an author.

In front of me are several medals and each one has a description of what was
done, and my name, and they are signed, as is the custom, by two people, the
nominating person and the authorizing person.  There are no great deeds
without a person.  There are no great deeds without a witness.  There are no
great deeds without someone approving.

Behind me is my patent 5,319,360.  It describes an idea and requires a
signature.  There are no ideas without an author.  There are no ideas
without public examination.

When they signed The Declaration of Independence of The United States of
America, they had a great idea.  But not as an abstract thought.  Every
person, author and witnesses, signed their name.  Even though the words
heard were, "We hang separately or we hang together,"  And even though John
Hancock signed in large enough letters "...so that the King of England can
see it from across the room." they signed.

Salmon Rushdie wrote "The Satanic Verses" knowing full well that it was
Islamic heresy and publicized what Islam is.  What if he had published it as
"anonymous?"

I have, in my small collection, a copy of Einstein's 1912 Manuscript on the
Special Theory of Relativity.  What if he didn't sign it?

Richard Feynmann had a great idea.  So great that his doctoral professor did
not understand it.  And so at his doctoral dissertation the young Feynmann
had, as his critics, Enrico Fermi and Albert Einstein.  Feynmann got his PhD
and, years later,  a Nobel Prize.  There are no great ideas in physics
without examination by one's peers.

There are no great ideas without the sacrifice of your name.