The Internet's Power of Freedom

We all know that the Internet has changed the world. What I find most interesting is how it will continue to change the world and in what way.

Hands down, one if the largest, most prominent allies of freedom, if not THE largest, most prominent, is the Internet. With the Internet, we have been able to achieve stretches of freedom that we have never been able to achieve before in the past, and we will continue to achieve even more.

I needn't bore you with examples of how freedom has been enhanced in the past thanks to the Internet. Unless you've been living under a rock, you are probably already aware that the voice of the people has been expanded in every direction, the probability of people sustaining themselves with low overhead costs and regulation (many making fortunes in the 90's) has been increased, and the enormity of information that has exploded and made available with the push of a button has empowered people to no ends.

Instead, I'll talk about what we could possibly expect to come. I think we can expect many more changes, but one in particular fascinates me: The power of the people to potentially control the outcome of world events.

We are already seeing a near revolution taking place in America by people who want change and searching for that change in a new president. The Ron Paul Phenomenon, as it's called, is providing a perfect example of how the Internet is enabling the people to mobilize on their own, for the cause that they believe in, destroying all preconceived notions dictated to us by status-quo media and those who control the outcome of our elections. Just Google Ron Paul and you will see what I am talking about.

As if that's not a large enough example, I think there is another case-in-point that has even greater ramifications:

For example, relations with America and Iran are on edge. Saber rattling is common and the potential for war is very high. Yet, how many of the people in either country actually want such a war? For that matter, stop and think about how many of the people in any country that has been in any war that has occurred on Earth really wanted such a war?

As is the case throughout all of human history and as long as the concept of government has existed, it's been the governments of humankind who have started wars, not the people.

Yet, the people have never had a choice but to along with it. They have never had the power to stop it. They have never had the ability to really know the true justification of the war. They have had no ability to change the course. They seldom had any ability to question it. This has been the way for all of history and it is only recently beginning to change.

The Internet can accelerate that change immensely.

As a suggestion, think about the Internet and what it can do. Think about the instant communication that can occur anywhere in the world without government regulation (although corporate conglomerates are trying their damnedest to regulate it, with the help of government).

I want to call your attention to the small, red dot in the country of Iran that exists on Visitor Locations meter of this blog (right side, scroll down a bit). Someone from Iran visited this site.

Granted, that visitor could have been a government official. But, what if it was just a regular "Joe", just like me? And what could stop us regular Joes from America and Iran from talking to one another, communicating, and connecting over the Internet?

And when that happens, who is to say that we will not discover that neither one of us wants our countries to go to war with the other, much unlike our respective governments do. And when that happens, who is to say that we will not discover that the majority of the people in both of countries do not want such war, with all of us talking to one another?

Our own governments won't even talk to one another! But Iranian "Joe" and I can. And so can every other Iranian Joe and American Joe (and Janes). Once the people begin to communicate with one another, side-stepping government oversight, governments will lose their ability to lead the people into wars and other world situations where the majority of regular people might not want to be. That's freedom.

One might say that we have always been able to communicate with other people in other countries. After all, we've always been able to mail letters. Uh-huh...and who controls that system? Answer: The government. How reliable is that system? What is the speed of service for that system?

What about big media news networks doing reports overseas? Well, how many of those news networks are putting you into personal contact with the people of another country? Doing a story is not the same thing. To make the situation worse, all major media (in America) is owned by only 4-5 corporations, who control what is said and what is done.

The Internet is instantaneous. It's reliable. It's not controlled by governments. Only it's connection is controlled by corporations, not the content (unless we allow that to happen). And the Internet provides peer-to-peer connection.

This is a power that the people have never known, until recent decades. Once we begin to use it to the degree I have mentioned (and we will), governments will no longer begin to lead us into one war after another. If a majority of the people in either country whose governments are leading to war disagree with going to war, how will governments be able to make it happen? After all, governments are a very small minority of people. The People are a huge, massive majority.

The Internet still has a long ways to go and I recommend to any freedom lovers out there that you cherish it's existence. It is slowly but surely providing a level of freedom to the world such has never been known before.

And there are all kinds of powers-that-be who will try to control it, limit it, and regulate it, because without such regulation, the people will have a power of freedom that cannot be controlled.

I hope we begin using that power more. I'll set the example and reach out to the Iranian who visited this site. Whoever you are from Iran that visited this site, please send me an email. I want to talk. We need to talk. Unless you are a government official. Then we have nothing to talk about.

Have a great weekend everybody and remember that It's a Free Country.