OTOH, any candidate who could actually boost the proportion of netizens who actually *vote* would do very well: the percentage of Americans who actually deign to vote at all is so low that *any* sizeable population segment can grab disproportionate influence just by stimulating people to vote who wouldn't have otherwise.
I live in Minnesota and that's exactly what Jesse Ventura did. All the pollsters predicted that Jesse would finish at most second to the Republican candidate but they were not counting on the unexpectedly high turnout. Jesse's campaign (including his 'net presence) mobilized people who would ordinarily not vote.
I would suggest you start with reading the books the others have recommended and subscribe to the Social Phobia mailing list (sorry, don't have the URL handy). Learning about it was a sort of revelation to me and helped me get up enough courage to seek professional help. It's a long process but things do get better!
What you are describing is classic social phobia. It sounds just like my life a few years ago-- before I got help. Read up about it on the WWW and get books on the subject. You should also seek professional help -- you might benefit from medication and/or therapy (I needed both).
And after being a long-time C++ programmer, I am able to earn 50% more being a Java programmer. I believe my productivity has also risen by at least 50%, due to the language (memory management, absence of the more esoteric features of C++).
I think in the corporate IS departments Java is growing at least as fast as Linux (and I work in a company where both are used).
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OTOH, any candidate who could actually boost the proportion of netizens who actually *vote* would do very well: the percentage of Americans who actually deign to vote at all is so low that *any* sizeable population segment can grab disproportionate influence just by stimulating people to vote who wouldn't have otherwise.
I live in Minnesota and that's exactly what Jesse Ventura did. All the pollsters predicted that Jesse would finish at most second to the Republican candidate but they were not counting on the unexpectedly high turnout. Jesse's campaign (including his 'net presence) mobilized people who would ordinarily not vote.
I would suggest you start with reading the books the others have recommended and subscribe to the Social Phobia mailing list (sorry, don't have the URL handy). Learning about it was a sort of revelation to me and helped me get up enough courage to seek professional help. It's a long process but things do get better!
What you are describing is classic social phobia. It sounds just like my life a few years ago-- before I got help. Read up about it on the WWW and get books on the subject. You should also seek professional help -- you might benefit from medication and/or therapy (I needed both).
Good luck and feel free to email me...
And after being a long-time C++ programmer, I am able to earn 50% more being a Java programmer. I believe my productivity has also risen by at least 50%, due to the language (memory management, absence of the more esoteric features of C++).
I think in the corporate IS departments Java is growing at least as fast as Linux (and I work in a company where both are used).