Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

With all the news about Facebook's breaches, you'd think I'd feel vindicated, but no.  I'm very private, so I resisted the entreaties of friends and the fact that three of my four kids are on it.  But I listened to  my friends about how much it means to them to have this daily touch of friendliness, and they are intelligent beings who weighed the risks with the rewards and found the later overwhelming.  I doubt they are worried now.  We are older, and naturally don't put impulsive posts online.  They protected themselves.  But others may get hurt, and that is a pity.  However, I think there is nothing they could have really done anywhere to protect their privacy.  We are in a post privacy era.  We had our credit card number stolen the old fashioned way, years ago, via my stolen wallet, and once recently when we have no idea how the card number was obtained.  We changed the number.  What else can you do?  I know nothing is deleted, and luckily, a lot I've written is pre-computer, so shredding solves the problem.  Clearly my Dad did that before he died, and there is no trace of him online.  My brother lived his entire life without a computer, and was untraceable after his death, but he was also the loneliest person I know.  Private, but erased.  So we all make our choices, and if we do the "wait a day" rule before we post anything, a lot of regrettable writing doesn't happen.  That unscrupulous people take advantage of our desire for connection shouldn't be surprising, as we are in a culture of greed and selfishness, mostly unchecked.