The No Name Defense

Something you may notice from my writing in this blog is my reticence towards the use of names. It may be so that it is more difficult to read that way, for I know that it is harder to write. I have my reasons, you may rest assured of that. Where people I know are concerned, I do take care to 'protect the innocent' by leaving out their names and trusting that the people who ought to know will and that those who ought not to suffer none from it.

More important are the proper names which belong to various concerns in the private sector. I feel very strongly about not naming businesses if I can help it. I get nothing from promoting their brands, and let it be  known throughout the land that I do not help those who don't need it for nothing. Anyone who is doing better than I am can certainly afford to compensate me properly for prostrating myself. Anyone who is not doing as well as I am- well, God help them.

Beyond the high-minded philosophical reasoning of that second point, there are practical reasons not to name names. Take my tweets- if I name a brand of peanut butter, I'll find in short order that some peanut butter trade organization is following me all of a sudden. I figure that there's some automatic algorithm (if that is the proper term). In such case, I begin feeling a powerful compulsion to target the thing I mentioned with virulently hateful tweets until the interloper takes their leave. I don't, but we all have those things that we'd do if we lacked compunction.

Also problematic is when I mention some brand or public figure here on the blog and people searching online for that thing or person come upon my blog, which must surely leave them sorely disappointed to find that I mention it in passing during some rambling and deranged missive about something else entirely. All in all, there is ample reason to struggle along without the benefit of those names. Sure, I could try and ride on their coattails for some hits that I am presently leaving on the table, but I would just as soon founder with greater dignity.