Many people write to newspaper and magazines to express their opinions. Letters to the editor must carry the writer’s full name, address and telephone number, although the information is not necessary for publication. This requirement to provide personal particulars is a clear indication that writers are held responsible for what they say. When a writer wants his voice heard, he needs to claim ownership of his voice. Responsibility is the name of the game.
“People today prefer living together to putting their signatures on a marriage certificate because they refuse to accept responsibility for the relationship,” said social worker Ken Yip, “and this is what is causing a lot of family problems.” When we sign a paper, for example, a business contract or a bank document, the signature is a seal of consent, an agreement to take the matter seriously. Most governments and many organizations will not process written complaints if they do not bear the writer’s signature. The absence of a signature, they explain, tells us that the writer cannot be too serious and therefore does not deserve a reply.
There are people who wish to remain anonymous（匿名的）for various reasons. Multi-billionaire Mr. King donates generously to charity several times a year. He gives simply because he wants to help but not for the publicity his donations may bring, and he does not want his good deeds to make news. In other cases, people insist on anonymity because they are afraid of the consequences of revealing their identity. Crime witnesses may be willing to assist the police, but most are unwilling to give their names when reporting a crime.
Name or no name? The answer is very personal and lies in how much we want to get involved. We all have a name. It is a matter if responsibility to use it when we make a statement, a claim or an accusation. We all want to honor our own name, and it is only by stamping our expression of an opinion with our own name that we honor what we say.

许多人给报纸杂志写信以抒发一己之见。给编辑的信件必须附有作者的完整姓名、地址和电话号码，虽然出版时不一定用得着这些信息，但这种要求提供个人详情的做法，分明是在告诉作者要为自己说的话负责。如果作者想要发出自己的声音，就需要申明自己是这个声音的主人。在这儿，问题的实质可以用“负责”来概括。
社会工作者肯.伊普说：“现在的人可以同居，却不愿在结婚证上签字，因为他们拒绝为这种关系负责。这是很多家庭问题的症结所在。”
当我们在诸如商务合同和银行票据此类的文件上签名时，就如同盖章认可，表示我们同意郑重对待此事。大多数政府和很多组织不愿意处理那些没有署名的书面投诉。他们解释说，如果连名都不签，就证明投诉人不是十分当真，他们因此也就不屑去回复。
出于种种原因，有些人希望自己的名字不为他人所知。亿万富翁金先生每年都向慈善机构慷慨捐赠若干次，但他只是为了帮助别人而已，并不想沽名钓誉，也不希望他的善举被风传。在另外一些情形下，人们执意匿名是因为担心身份暴露带来的后果。犯罪见证人也许愿意帮助警方，但在报案时大都不愿留下姓名。
留名还是匿名？答案因人而异，取决于我们想在多大程度上介入其中。人人都有名字。在发表声明、提出要求、告发他人时公开自己的姓名,就是一种负责任的表现。我们都想为自己的名字争光，而要赋予我们的言论以尊严, 唯一的途径就是用名字为我们发表的意见加盖印章。
（最后一段中的a matter if responsibility 应为a matter of responsibility.)