While many websites are blacking themselves out today, in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, I thought this would be a perfect time to break my accidental vow of silence and speak.
The internet has evolved from its very basic database form into a communications tool the likes of which no one has ever seen. It is the ultimate egalitarian device, offering the same information (both good and bad) to all who choose to seek it. It’s a leveler of playing fields, a source of entertainment, and a handy tool.
While I don’t personally believe that the acts coming before congress are anything other than politicians serving their corporate masters, I don’t think that this is a step that should be taken. Acts such as these and the National Defense Authorization Act–Which itself expands Patriot Act detention and interrogation policies to US Citizens–seem to be the beginnings of a slippery slope towards increasingly serious incursions on our freedoms and opinions. The timing of the NDAA with the rising tensions between the Government and the Occupy movement is suspect, although I don’t think anyone has disappeared as of yet.
Ultimately the question that will be answered here is that of who exactly the politicians we purportedly elected serve. If the screaming of countless individuals into their inboxes and voicemails falls on deaf ears, but the campaign dollars of large corporations are taken under serious consideration, then we’ll know we’ve lost. The question here is not whether or nor the government should legislate the internet: it’s whether or not it’s still our government. I suppose we’ll see, and depending on what answer we receive, difficult choices may come in the near future. Let’s just hope that we don’t have to make them.
This country is rapidly becoming ripe for a revolution. It’s come to seem that the choice involved in national elections is merely an illusion. In a conversation, I recently compared voting for president to choosing a toothpaste. Toothpaste, without the minty flavor added, is in fact (relatively) safe detergents. It’s an incredibly bitter anti-bacterial soap. It gets the job done, but it’s vile. Regardless of which minty flavor you choose, you are getting the same incredibly bitter anti-bacterial mouth-soap. So you might have the vanilla-mint-swirl republican, or the cinnamon-mint combo democrat. Either way you’re getting bitter detergents and putting money in the pockets of corporations.
Who knew the world of toothpaste was so depressing?
It’s important to note that the true meaning of revolution is not revolt. It’s not a bloody or violent overthrowing of those in power, but rather a change in the thinking of the citizens of a particular nation. If the ideological revolution can come, perhaps reform is possible. If not, scorched earth may be the order of the day.
So, in closing, call out, tell your local representative to stop SOPA and PIPA. Tell them that the NDAA gives you the willies. See if they listen. Or see if they only care if you come at them with $100 million. Good night and good luck to us all.
RJC
