There is much debate about what technology is doing to our society. Some people believe it is increasing the power of the "powers that be" to monitor us. Some people believe it is a step in the direction of a one world government/new world order.
As much paranoia as I have about a one world government, and electronic currency the point is this; as much ability as they have to fuck with us, we have to fuck with them. For every time they monitor someones behavior, or collect information on unwilling participants, there is the opportunity to block them (or "defend" yourself) or attack them back through hacking etc.
But that's not the point. The point is that with the internet we now have billions of pieces of unregulated information available for our consumption. Of course some pieces of information are incorrect or biased, but that is up to us to distinguish. The internet is almost like a virtual anarchist society. Yes bad things happen, and bad websites "happen". But there is just as much, if not more good that can come out of it.
The major problem is that people are not using the internet to their full advantage. I have been trying to learn scottish gaelic online. There are expensive books and classes which you can take to learn the language, so why not just find the information for free. Finally people are starting to realize that while ideas can be sold, they don't need to be. For the first time in history we have all of the records, databases, literature, and collections of thoughts, theories, theologies, and ideologies which have encompassed the entirety of mankind.
The only thing between you and knowledge is a few clicks of the mouse. And if there is one cliche' out there which deserves to be repeated it is "knowledge IS power".
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