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From here today: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 100 years from now, this coves utterance will be an adage, and a reality. ===============================================================
[3] The Wild, Wild Cyber-West ================================================================ Those of us on the Internet are privileged - for we are witnessing the birth of an idea whose time has come - freedom. The rest of the (non-cyber) world may not know it, but the 'net is a practical experiment in "self-governance". It is also a major freedom product. Have you ever stopped to ponder just how the Internet works? I don't mean just technologically, but as a voluntary, self-organ- izing entity. Just take one issue - "spam" - you know, that practice of sending unsolicited email. Now, some people don't mind getting it, and others hate it. And as a result, there have been a number of measures introduced to reduce the amount of spam. You have "spam abuse" reporting systems, you have "filtering" software - in other words, the Internet community itself is providing ways of dealing with it. It's the same with privacy. Okay, sending an email over the 'net has been compared with sending a letter minus the envelope. And I guess it doesn't really matter that much if all you are saying is, "Hello Mary!" But if you want privacy, you can have it. You can download free privacy software (PGP), you can open a free web-based email account (HushMail) - and have privacy on a plate. Now, the important thing to realize in all of this is that the government had nothing to do with it. The government has not legislated for either stopping spam or creating privacy - but as demand for it exists on the Internet, such solutions are provided as commercial products by the Internet marketplace. This is practical freedom at work. I read the other day how President Clinton is almost computer illiterate - and has only used the Internet once, to buy some presents. And you know what, I'm not surprised in the slightest. These people (whom many people look up to) are incapable of creating one marketable product - and yet have the gall to want to tax all initiative and effort! The Internet is a bit like the USA was - before government got in the way. It's a free-trade zone. A free-thought zone. It's a haven for freedom seekers of all shades. And just like the USA burst forth in productive energy, and attracted people from all over the world - the very best sort of people, the 'net is having a similar effect. I often get email and reports indicating how some government or other is about to "curb" all this freedom, or going to clamp down on the 'net - but I'm not pessimistic. Do you know why? I look at it like this: the Internet is populated with all sorts of people - all motivated by the one thing we have in common - the pursuit of our own happiness. We now have a tool that makes this goal more possible than before. And it's a tool without borders. It's not the property of just one nation. It's not a "national" thing at all. But the best news of all is that the very brightest minds on the planet are involved in the Internet. I never fail to be amazed at what people achieve on the 'net. The programming simply blows me away. Now, in comparison, the government (yours, mine, everybody's) is made up of dim-witted people. People who have ended up there because they can't cut it in the real world. These people are "dinosaurs" as far as the information economy is concerned. When they waffle on about the "information economy" they don't have a clue what they are talking about. And if they did, they'd want to shut it down immediately! So this is the "face-off" - the fleet-footed cyber-techies and entrepreneurs vs the slow-brained politicians. In the competition for "smartness" the state is losing the battle The best minds will undoubtedly be in the free market - and not working for the state. This is a brain drain of cosmic proportions - and one that will ultimately bring the politicians' dreams of ultimate power to naught - and our dream of freedom to reality. |
