Editorial
Independence Day
by quagmyre
To me, the fourth of July is a special day. It is special for the obvious reasons: the great country of the United States of America was born and it is a great day for a barbeque! On top of that, it is important for what the day stands for: the day when a bunch of rebels and anti-establishment people got their way and were allowed to do things as they saw fit. As Adult Webmasters and Webmistresses we are about the arch-typical of rebels and anti-establishment people who are still embroiled in the capitalist way of life. We don't work on a clock or in corporate type offices for the most part. We allow ourselves great latitude in how we do things and how we govern ourselves. If we want to kill a link just because we feel like it in a fit of pique, we do. If we want to boldly try something new and different, we do. We have freedom like no other group of people in the world. Where else can you say, "fuck" in a business meeting and be on topic, not crude?
Yes, the freedom is great! But it has a price. To be free as a country, we have to constantly work for it and fight for it. We have to keep weak-minded meddlers from trying to revoke our freedoms "for our own good" and we have to deal with a lot of attitude from the rest of the world because a lot of our freedoms seem insane to them. I will admit, a lot of our freedoms ARE insane, but that is what freedom is. Freedom means you have the ability to make the wrong decisions if you want. In our industry, we have to fight and work to keep our freedoms as well. We need to work very hard at being diligent in our work to keep from being regulated out of existence. We need to do our part to make sure we are not marketing towards minors. We need to work at making sure we are not working at destabilizing the web with malware or spyware. Most importantly, I think we need to work at not being perceived as the evil people that the media keeps portraying us to be.
I know a lot of you out there personally. We have talked and drank and expressed views on work and play and being humans. From my experience, this industry is actually full of people with very grounded ethics and even morality. I am honored and pleased to be with such a group. We also are very individualistic and very tolerant for the most part of others and their beliefs and points of view. As with anything though, there are exceptions. Work hard at not being an exception.
Yes, we have freedom, but you have to work at keeping it or it will be snatched. Everyday there are people who work very hard at revoking our freedoms. We need to work harder at keeping them. What we do is fun and exciting, but if we as an industry are not careful it can become very dangerous very quickly. If the government had its way, we would all be out of work and in prison. The same mentality held by a government 228 years ago towards another bunch of rebels who did not want to suck up to the status quo. Those original Americans had a very hard fight to pay for what we have today as we eat food cooked on an open flame and enjoy the beach. We can avoid a legal battle of similar proportions by working hard to do good clean work. Yes, you can make money by hijacking people's browsers and installing spyware when they visit your sites, but it is mere pennies per click. Are you willing to give up dollars to be earned next year for mere pennies? I for one am not. Are you willing to let the government add more legislationto govern us because you wont take steps to govern yourself?
We as an industry need to stop chasing the clicks at the expense of all other goals. Think about what you are doing and what it will cost next quarter.
We are part of a great industry, one where we get to express extreme freedoms. Let's work at keeping it rolling and making money.
Have a great weekend! Remember the prices paid in the past for our days of drunken debauchery and fireworks!