'I think your experience of not knowing which party your wives voted for would be unusual as most of us inadvertently expose our political preferences by implicitly leaning in one or direction or another as we discuss the state of things around us.'

Oh no I'm the same. I tell NOBODY who I vote for. It's a secret ballot you know! My parents were desperate to know for some reason, I guess to see if my communist mother or neo-con Dad had the more influence.

'Mostly they're ultra-conscious of our relative stations and are eager to compensate by treating me with seeming-equality'

Ha I get a kick out of watching that dynamic. I find especially managers lay it on real thick it's cringe-worthy.

There is a guy though who cleans our office and I really like him for some reason and we cant communicate as I don't speak mandarin. We really connect in our smiles though, and I'm sure someone will make a movie out of it for us, but no doubt they'll go more along the lines of the guy cant speak English. Probably I am patronising him though I sincerely believe it's more he reminds me of some long lost friend or maybe someone I saw in my travels through his homeland or some such thing.

He probably thinks I'm pretty weird and laughs to his mates, but in my reality he is so much more to me, and I don't care. I think I love him actually.

'What does anonymity mean? And what is my “real” identity?'

You're channelling me lately squeers, not as good as trev who just seems to get me and get a kick out of me and I him.

See how I do that? Give a bit of praise and then taint it with a challenge to compete with someone else for my affections! I'm evil incarnate, a psychotic psychopathic sycophant!

But I know yooouse love me anyway.

I just knew it was no coincidence that there are eleven letters in both names - Maggie Smith and Houellebecq!

Anthonyve, you make some compelling points and this "I have difficulty accepting the idea that anybody can be free without being responsible" seems hard to argue.
But then there's been a long and honourable succession of pamphlet writers down through history who were wise not to take responsibility. Of course I don't say that as things stand there's any danger of being burned at the stake in modern Australia, but as I say above there are pressures to conform that at best inhibit plain-spokenness and at worse censor it. There's a certain limited spectrum, political and ideological, that we're all more or less free to traverse, enjoying the illusion that we're critical thinkers, but there are also decorous limits and taboos outside the spectrum that the bravest public intellectuals avoid or pussyfoot over. We're a conformist lot and the public sphere, such as it is, all to readily self-regulates. Genuinely radical voices are treated as just that--as if the Western State has attained to such perfection that its orientation is the final arbiter of what's desirable. Just as we look back on former social orientations and are appalled, so posterity shall reflect on us. There are many matters about which more could and should be said that the public is not ready to hear, much less to tolerate. Nevertheless they need saying and at times anonymity seems merely prudent.
Houellebecq, thanks for the dressing down, which I richly deserved. You're like OLO's version of a dominatrix. Spank me any time!
But you've got me pouting, I get you just as well as Trev does!

You make a powerful point, Sqeers.
On reflection, maybe my willingness to be identified with my positions is merely evidence that my positions aren't terribly, er, adventurous.
I must work on that.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au

Dear Houellebecq,

Where on earth do you get off calling my position 'tosh'? I clearly stated it was an obligation I personally felt. I also stated I was perfectly comfortable with others choosing to remain anonymous therefore it was not an obligation I expected others to adopt.

Could I invite you to think about the difference between playing the 'devil's advocate' and trolling.

Further I don't recall ever seeing tomato throwers in any crowd wearing masks. How about putting a little thought into a more appropriate analogy.

Houellie,

"But I know yooouse love me anyway."

Well yes we do : )

I'm always interested in the way we mentally visualise each other. We can't help but do that. I have a reasonably distinct picture of all the faces and body shapes of regular posters. For instance, your hair colour got darker in my mental image when I learned of your Carribean ancestry (if my memory serves me correctly)

What an odd little construct is disembodied online discussion.