[ Prev | Next | Index ] Mon Feb 19 18:23:14 MST 1996 : Rsvp0@aol.com, Portland, Oregon USA 24 HRs of Decency A Chemical Reaction Rob Sample --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with the power to endanger the public liberty." - John Adams [Spring 1772] "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or prohibiting the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." -The First Amendment [1791] "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" - Abbot J. Liebling [May 1960] "Freedom, although it has brought [modern man] independence and rationality, has made him isolated and, thereby, anxious and powerless." - Erich Fromm [1941] "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." "Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution- these can lift at a colossal humbug- push it a little- weaken it a little, century by century, but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at blast. Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand." - Mark Twain [1895 and 1922, resp.] Well my friends, we are gathered here to bear witness to a peaceable assembly petitioning the government for a redress of grievances. Just like the First Amendment says. Man, the irony (my favorite tool) is so thick you could cut it with a rusty bayonet. God, I'm mixing metaphors already! Everyone all over the net (and hopefully all over the world) has been learning a lot since February 8th, 1996; the day that President Clinton signed the Communications Decency Act into law. We've learned about the net of course, about civil liberties, certainly more about ourselves, and hopefully how to type a little better. I've only been on the internet for 18 months, but the furor over censorship on the net has reawakened my passion for the constant struggle over maintaining our civil liberties. My new friends from around the world involved in the "24 Hours of Democracy" can speak more eloquently than I about Constitutional rights and the CDA's violation thereof . Just reading some of the quotes on their 'net signatures is inspiring: (paraphrasing) "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin; and "Stupidity is the enemy of freedom" - Salmon Rushdie. Wow! Ben and Salman quoted in the same sentence. What a team they'd make on PBS, huh? It's time for the Franklin/Rushdie News Hour...."Gee, have you read Salman's new book- 'The Big. Fat, Ugly Buddha'"? " Go fly a kite, Ben". Couldn't happen without that First Amendment! OK, and a time machine. Let me instead wax poetic (as if) on what free and open communication and the 'net means to me... after all- it is my essay. As a wide-eyed youth during the 60's, I felt like a chemical reaction of change was beginning to take place and, for me, music was the catalyst. I know there are those of you would say it was "a musical change with chemicals as the catalyst" but again, I remind you: this is my essay and mine alone - however revisionist. After getting bogged down in the bleakness of the 70's and disgusted at the indulgences of the 80's, I was losing faith that the World could ever truly change and come together in a meaningful way. After Woodstock went "condo" I didn't know where to turn for inspiration. Now, the Internet is my catalyst and music is the fuel. The internet has opened my eyes again to the possibility of a global community- where people communicate freely across racial, social, and economic lines. I have the opportunity to talk to people from all over the world about politics, art, music, other matters, and yes, download JPEGs from alt.binaries.trailerpark. beautyqueens. Oops! Did I say that? Perhaps more importantly, I can talk with citizens of the world about the matters that we all share in common, topics that can bring us together: life, death, and love. I find myself in touch with my friends and associates more than any other time in my life because of the internet. As I reach out to connect with people, I find that what I have always felt is true: that we all share basic needs, wants, and desires. Things like the need to be understood, the want of security for ourselves and our families, and the desire to be loved. Now these are things that I know to be true through my preferred form of communications: face to face. But it is unlikely that I would have ever met my friends newfound friends in France, England, The Netherlands, and South Africa just to name a few, were it not for the net. In it's original form, this essay was written for the popular "24 Hours in Cyberspace" event - a carefully planned look at all the wonderful, positive things that the net is facilitating around the world. Ironically (there's that tool again), the event occurred on the same day that the CDA was signed into law, possibly stripping the net of its strength and, in my mind, overshadowing forever the impact and beauty of the "24 Hours in Cyberspace" event (well, that coupled with the fact that I tried three (3!) different browsers to upload my essay to the "24 Hour" site over the 24 hours, to no avail. Their loss is your gain, IMHO). So, freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those that own one: Surprise! We all own one now (and those that don't yet can get one very easily, don't kid yourself). And I think that is what scares the people that would curtail the First Amendment on the Internet. If, as Erich Fromm said, freedom makes us anxious (and I'm feeling just a little), it certainly doesn't make us powerless. Or rather, power doesn't come from the freedom: it comes from what you do with it. I want to thank Dave Winer (to whom, in explaining this project to friends, I refer to as the "Paul Revere of the Cyber Rebellion of '96")! He inspired the 24 Hours of Democracy project and woke me up as he rode through the streets waving his lanterns (I'm glad I'm getting that mixed metaphor thing corrected, but Dave, the neighbor is wondering what happened to her rose bushes). Dave, I might not always agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death.... The winds of change are still blowing, and change is needed more than ever. But the world is getting wired now and the free exchange of ideas is allowing unprecedented contact between all the people around the world. I know that in the end, free thinking people will prevail all over the world. I also know that this thing called the internet is going to be a very big part of it. We have catalyst, we have fuel, and we have energy. This chemical reaction will change the world forever. My sincerest wishes of health and happiness to all (who read this far). Peace and Love, Rob Sample I'll leave you with a couple more numbers by Mr. Twain: "Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid" (for Jeffrey) "It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: Freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them." (for all of us) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Image] Rsvp0@aol.com