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[ 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
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"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)
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