An Unflag-able Article!

A short while back I posted up an article about a certain part of a male’s anatomy that basically gives us the “male” designation. There was no profanity anywhere in the article, and it was clearly labeled as to what the subject matter was. Despite all that, it soon got flagged, and then got flagged some more, even getting flagged for “impersonation.” Impersonation? I’ll let y’alls imaginations fill in the blanks on that one, as I haven‘t a clue myself.

It did get me to thinking though as to how unfair it is to have a system where people can anonymously designate themselves censors regarding other people’s works, and have no personal accountability for whatever decisions they make. Sure, they should have a right to flag if something offends, but should not the “flagger” be subjected to the same scrutiny that they inflict upon others? Might we not learn the true motivation behind some of these “flags”, and is it not fair for them to receive the same “watchful eye” and commentary that they subject others to?

I think so, in fact, I know so. Fair is fair, and it should work both ways. But let’s take this one step further - if Gather were to allow the “flaggers” to have their way, the following might be representative of the sort of articles that would be published from here on out, think about a world like the following…..

A Good Day Of Goodness!

Hi fellow Gatherers. I feel good today. The air is fresh and the flowers outside my window are pretty. It’s the perfect time to write some verbiage.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ed. You may remember me, I used to be guilty of writing relatively popular articles here on Gather. That is, I wrote them until some anonymous people complained about them, and since I’m the kind of person who enjoys pleasing everyone, I decided to take those complaints to heart. Because I never want anyone finding displeasure with me or my literary efforts, I’ve decided to only write articles about goodness now. And what it’s like to be good. So here we go.

It’s heaven watching a good episode of Leave It To Beaver followed by a classic The Waltons rerun. I feel so good and positive after doing so. I like writing down observations about birds singing outside my window in my journal as well, I may publish some of them here soon.

I need to eat lunch in a minute, a glass of low-fat milk and a wax sandwich being my today’s menu choices. I also need to meditate a while over the terrible damage horror movies do to our youngsters, and I’m going to be part of the protest at the local Dairy Queen this evening regarding all that terrible sugar they put in the ice cream there, it’s just awful, mind you, our children deserve better!

Before I go do anything, I need a nap to steel myself for the important work to be done later today. Not that I intend on being judgmental, mind you. Please allow me my space, thank you. I’ll write again at some point.

THE END

Folks, think about it. Do you really not want any pizzazz or spice here on Gather? Do we really want anonymous flaggers dictating what people can and can’t read? Can y’all stomach another article full of goodness like the above?

Some of the people who flag basically want a world like the above. Theirs is a bleak, less than fun existence. Others do it because of some pretty misguided reasons, jealousy being high up on the list. They aren’t popular on Gather because they basically don’t even like themselves, but you’d never get them to admit that, least of all to themselves. It’s easier to blame someone else.

My advice? Write Tom or some other Gather staffer, and tell them that if people are given the right to censor other people’s contributions then they should have to put their names behind their actions. What’s fair for the goose….

Now, I’d better run, I need to drink some liquor and cuss for about ten minutes in order to get my equilibrium back….laters!