Would you give up privacy for wealth or fame or power?

[Amelia G]

In the current internet age, there are certain incursions on our privacy all the time. Still, there are people who are permitted to have more private lives than others.

Would you give up what privacy you have for wealth or fame or power? What do you feel would be the pros and cons you would weigh in this decision?

[Wickedanima]

I can say flat out that if it was termed to me like that, I'd have lots of second thoughts. Some of the only pros I can think if would be that I would have enough money to escape to a huge, quiet fortress. I would also be able to help out some family members that really deserve a bit of help.

The cons would be that it would deepen social phobias, and that I have a bit of a temper, so would come across in the Rags as a violent, unstable individual when I cussed at /hit a Papparzo,

[Rockwulf]

I've said this before. In a friggin' heartbeat.

[LeilaHazlett]

I was just sorta talking about this with my boyfriend the other day. He was talking about running for congress and I told him he probably couldn't get elected because eventually someone would find porn of me on the internet and link it back to him. I wouldn't mind if he ran for office and something like that happened but I wouldn't be thrilled about being called a whore on TV either which I'm sure would end up happening. But I would be willing to give up my privacy for either him or I to have money/power. Being broke and having a privet life isn't all that fun!

[VoltaireBlue]

No. Not in a million years. I like my privacy very much. Its part of the reason I live in BFE.

[Mr Karl]

sure, pay me a lot of money and people can watch me scratch my nut's if that's what people want

[mystoo]

Hrmmm...my life's not so exciting that people would want to follow my every move so my answer is yes.
But then again, if I had loads of cash I'm sure my life would be a helluva lot more exciting so my answer is no.
Make sense?

[Mindgames]

Not only is there no going back, very few people have the first clue what it'll be like, hence have no way to predict if they'll like it. The amount of effort required to keep even the hints of normal life is insane, far more so these days when stuff you did a year ago in some back-end town can appear online courtesy of someone with a cameraphone, and once it's online, it's not only there forever but it's continually being re-read and debated. Pre-Web, today's paper was tomorrow's litter. You could kill your Momma and inside a year be back hosting Teen Choice.

Even people who were previously obscured (artists using pen names, backing singers, reclusive authors, etc.) are hunted down to drive online gossip and the need to Wiki everything and everyone, so the opportunity to be famous entirely through your work has pretty much gone.

[Raza]

Power, as in sheer ability to act and change things to be as I want them, definitely. I don't give a shit what people think or know about me so long as they can't do anything about it. In fact, that's a particularly entertaining combination right there.

[Mindgames]

There's the rub - you only get the power because the people give it to you, and if said people don't like what they find out about you, they'll take it away again. Politicians, artists, celebrities.. one bad story and you're back flipping burgers no matter how high up the heap you climbed. It becomes paranoia; not about what someone might dig up about your past that you'd be happy to explain to a rational audience, but what some dumbfuck with an agenda will use it for.

Power, as in sheer ability to act and change things to be as I want them, definitely. I don't give a shit what people think or know about me so long as they can't do anything about it. In fact, that's a particularly entertaining combination right there.

[Mr Karl]

only fucked up people want power

[Aza]

Wealth... fame... power; if you have one of the three, plus any strategic intelligence at all, you can easily acquire the other two, and I don't value any of them above my privacy. Of course, I don't value that very highly either, but then I've never really been susceptible to either self-consciousness or corruption.

[Raza]

There's the rub - you only get the power because the people give it to you, and if said people don't like what they find out about you, they'll take it away again. Politicians, artists, celebrities.. one bad story and you're back flipping burgers no matter how high up the heap you climbed. It becomes paranoia; not about what someone might dig up about your past that you'd be happy to explain to a rational audience, but what some dumbfuck with an agenda will use it for.

That's not power: that's authority and influence, and I wouldn't give up a rusty dutch pre-euro cent for that stuff.

Power is raw capacity to enact change, as it exists within the individual. Skill, ability, charm, knowledge, physical fitness, inventiveness - utilized in synergy to overcome any conceivable obstacle. And of course no external party can just give you these things, but that's why it's a hypothetical scenario. The source needn't be explained; the question is whether you'd give up privacy to achieve a proportional amount of it, should any opportunity arise.

[Mr Karl]

of course if you have wealth or power, you can get all the privacy you need

[Raza]

Maybe. But if you took the spotlight in a big enough way getting it, that's going to require a major makeover and 'going underground'. That's a pain in the ass.

And some kinds of power cannot be used when they are disguised at all.

[KessM]

i like my privacy. very much.

[purplewings]

mainstream fame i do not have time for

[ROGIZOID]

I guess im really not that much of a private person.
I suppose i would give my so-called privacy up for power!!
POWAAAAA!!!!!

The bad thing about that i think my loved ones might suffer because they demand their privacy.

[toxicat]

only fucked up people want power

I know. I respect my subs so much for their insight into this. Well, not this specifically but the topic at hand.

[toxicat]

Space and privacy are very important to me. I don't even like it when sex partners try to spend the night.

[athenahollow]

I'm already an extremely open book and have no shame, so I most certainly would give it up.

[Velvet-Tongue]

Sure man. Wealth in exchange for people caring about where I eat/wear and what my political views are? I would give less than a shit.

[karyn]

i already hate people and i don't think i would want to be in a situation where they made me hate them more, so no.

[incog]

I gave up privacy for wealth and fame and girls and drugs and a party any time I wanted one. I did it before the internet and it is much less fun now. I always worry that video of what my beer gut looks like during sex is going to end up on the internet if I have sex with someone new now. Nobody wants to see that but that doesn't mean someone won't post it.

[lesa1242]

fucking A i would- mine but not my kids

[Thistle Harlequin]

i would..fuck it..i think i'd be a character...