What are they hiding? Why are they hiding?

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”― William O Douglas

"Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway."

Mother Teresa

“There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle, there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy.”― Joseph Pulitzer

Every car on the road today is required to display a license plate. This is to identify them specifically and to prove that they have paid taxes and fees that allow them to be driving on America's highways. But for some reason, I'm noticing more and more cars out there with their license plates covered with dark screens. Many are not visible even close up, and certainly not from a camera or another car. This illegal device gives some drivers a sense of impunity- that they can do whatever they want and face no consequences. They can speed, drive recklessly, have a hit-and-run accident, or just stop paying license fees altogether.

How do they get away with it? Good question. Increasingly, we are living in an era with no consequences. Obvious corruption is seen at the highest levels, and nothing is done, so why shouldn't the rest of us act that way?

Why do some people wear sunglasses indoors? Some have legitimate medical reasons, but the more likely answer is that it makes one look cool because it hides all vulnerability under a screen of glass. The eyes are the windows of the soul, but once hidden, the person becomes unreadable.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have been allowed to wear masks to conceal their identity when raiding neighborhoods. What are they afraid of? Apparently there's a lot of controversy about their tactics, and it's easier for them to act brashly and violently if they can't be identified.

The cowardice of hiding behind darkness can be seen at the heart of our politics through "dark money" contributions. Large corporations and wealthy individuals sometimes don't want to be seen as political partisans, lest they lose half of their customers, so they hide behind shadowy entities that don't have to identify their donors. Large donations can result in preferential treatment from those receiving the money, and even though most of us disapprove of this quid pro quo, nobody does anything about it because its shrouded in secrecy.

More and more, the banking system is being corrupted by another secretive form of commerce- cryptocurrency. Crypto is the medium of choice for professional criminals because it can't be tracked. Bank records can show the identities of large recipients of money, even if they are anonymous LLCs with unknown owners. But cryptocurrency makes banks obsolete, as a open-source disbursed form of expensive 1s and 0s of computer code.

With a system that is based only on perceptions, I wonder if it could all come crashing down very easily.

Probably the most dangerous use of masks of anonymity comes from the very medium you are now reading this on- the Internet. Here in social media land, everything is virtual and nothing is real. I could be who I claim to be, an 85 year old Mongolian woman, or an AI robot. There's no way to know for sure. This makes online dating nearly impossible, online friendships superficial, and online discussion forums brutal. If you've ever read a message board following any kind of post, you've likely seen comments towards other human beings that no one would ever say in person.

Anonymity makes us feel unaccountable, powerful, and free to say whatever nonsense comes into our heads. When I hear that many people get their news from Facebook or You Tube, I shudder. There are shadowy groups of conspiracy theorists and AI bots dominating much of social media discussion, all in pursuit of clicks and virality, but not truth. Truth is a slippery thing, but good journalism is the best source of light to seek it out.

Here's an idea- how about making everyone accountable for their words and deeds? No more anonymous accounts, masks, or hidden license plates. When we were in grade school, we knew if we were naughty it would get back to our parents and there would usually be consequences. Today, not so much. People get away with hurtful words and illegal activities, and it just encourages more of the same.

One of the nicest social media sites is Nextdoor.com, because each member has to be identified by name and address. We know where folks live and who they are, plus there are volunteer monitors who vote on whether abusive posts should be removed. It's far from perfect, but much more civil than other sites I've been on. Nextdoor will never generate the amount of money or virality that other sites will, but I've gotten some great advice from neighbors on things that mattered to me.

To have a functioning society, we need to trust each other. We can't trust someone who hides in the shadows behind anonymity. Stay in the light and expect the same from others.