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Ode to Anonymous (A Poem)
This mask,
is permanent.
This mask,
is inevitable.
It can be happy,
It can be sad, or mad.
It can show no emotion,
It can show any emotion.
But this mask,
is the only face we see.
We do not see what lies underneath,
the truth that lies within.
This mask is worn,
with friends and family.
In public or in private,
even when you’re by yourself.
When we were created,
this mask was too.
Our outer face,
known as our identity.
But when we were created,
so was our true face.
And this true face’s name…
Our soul.
Our soul,
Our heart,
Our mind,
together; combined.
This is our true face,
our true feelings,
our true life!
No one sees this face.
Consciously you realize,
it can happen anytime, anywhere.
Sub-consciously,
you deny it.
We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us.
———
Based on this poem
The History of Anonymous
Humanity has come a long way. We live in a world where the moment a thought meets a medium, be it speech or text, audio or video, it can be in the hands and minds of anyone on the planet instantly. No longer hindered by the limits of freight or post, something as simple as an idea can ignite the hope and ambitions of a global population within minutes of its formation. Your access to information is not limited to the number of books in your nearest library. Your access to opinions is no longer limited by the number of channels or stations you can tune. Your only limit to facts, the very building blocks of truth, is your desire to seek it. You are dynamic and agile; you are free. These conditions are emergent and new. Where the richest Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt could not manage it within their lifetime, even the impoverished now have the potential to hear to voice of a loved one from a place on the other side of the planet. What puts this power in your hands? It is a spiderweb of connected computers, weaving from the metropolitan New York to the slums of Sao Paulo and everywhere in between. The desire for freedom and will to demand the respect of basic, natural rights can topple regimes of every shape and flavor. This power, however, challenges traditions and procedures that have long been held in esteem. Where once nations required the auspices of religion or heritage to command power and exalt one, or a few, above their fellow man today they rely mostly on the notion of geography. They claim that certain rights, freedoms and liberties stem from the state, which claims power derived from where you were born, or where you stand now. Your empowerment threatens this notion. Your connection to a vibrant marketplace of ideas threatens the tradition that your actions should be dictated by where you sit. Today, you have the power to pick your path, network with allies and choose your own means to meeting your goals. Unfortunately there are many people in positions of power who resent this new reality, and are actively working to stop such free flow of information and communication. This same technology allows states to be more intrusive than ever, and governments are making the most of these new abilities. We have witnessed intrusions on privacy that would have been dismissed as dystopian only a few decades ago. Left unchecked by democratic control, and unconstrained by national sovereignty or respect for fundamental human values, the legitimate actions of corporations or governments can easily turn into abuse. Yet the same tools that facilitate these actions provide us with the ability to fight back and safeguard our human rights. It can give us the power to expose crime, corruption and government abuse that would otherwise remain hidden. There is a new paradigm emerging. Born from the internet, a personification of it, if you may. It was made with hope for what will be and disdain for what will happen The pioneers of this paradigm, individuals with common purpose, have come together. We are nowhere and we are everywhere. We are powerful and unbound, dynamic and agile. We accept all ideas, as we are all of them, yet are none of them at the same time. What are we?Welcome to the 21st century.
We are Anonymous. So are you.
(Source: whatis-theplan.org)
