I saw Nick Turse on Moyers & Company yesterday. He manages TomDisptach.com a regular antidote to the mainstream media.
Susan Crawford appeared on Moyers & Company too. She is a proponent of internet service as a utility, modeled after electricity service, clean safe water, and the other amenities of daily life that are regulated by public utilities. She cited Lafayette, Louisiana as an example of the power a municipality may have to offer its citizens fiber optic network connection. Nearly all businesses handle initial written communication via the internet; job applications come immediately to mind. Students require internet access to achieve common standards in the classroom. US concerns developed internet technology; yet, the US is not the leader in internet accessibility for its population.
As Crawford asserts, “Congress created the FCC to make available to “all the people of the United States” a “rapid, efficient, Nation-wide” communications service “at reasonable charges.” But we have failed in that task when it comes to the basic communications need of our time: high-speed internet access. Reliable information access is central to every policy we care about, including education, health, and even national security.”
Everything should be reliable and high speed.
I did a little link to you in my new post…
Yay for me! Must look soonest!
indeed
Access and innovation cuts both ways here. That modern tug of governance war. But I more than agree in the main. Info access damn near as needy as a clean drink. A real public/private partnership more than possible if you can tame the political Luddites.
PMAO posted in his blog comments “Politicians are never going to get anything done as long as they spend all their time trying to make sure the other side doesn’t get anything done…”
I suppose that’s the gist of it all. Lately, I am more discouraged than I thought I could be.
As always, happy to hear from you, Doug.