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RSS FeedIs the lack of broadband connectivity really an issue for low-income communities?
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| Yes | 61% | 144 votes | Total: 236 votes | |
| No | 39% | 92 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesOn the outset the lack of broadband connectivity in low-income communities may seem the height of frivolity. It may even seem stupid for poor people to be concerned with such things. But look a little deeper. Having access to computers with DSL or cable broadband service can change a person's educational and financial circumstances. I speak as a low income person; I am able to publish my writing, create and profit from my podcasting projects and provide content writing to supplement my income. I would think that any low income person would like the opportunity to use the internet like I do and some of the things I can do aren't possible unless you have broadband internet service.
I support this not just because of personal experience but also because there are a lot of opportunities for creating jobs for yourself if you already have a trade or skill (such as freelance work) and other income revenue streams that can help boost a low income person or family financially. Many income revenue streams and opportunites exist on the internet and increasingly broadband connectivity is needed to keep up with what is happening. it's a quickly changing world. Why should a person be stuck with dial up just because they are poor? In fact, in order to find a job the traditional way the internet is also a great resource.
In my opinion having a broadband account is almost important in finding work as having Caller ID and Voicemail service on your phone line. If you are a good writer, a musician, artist or someone with a knack for creating business opportunities broad- band connectivity can go along way in helping you to create, build, expand on and eventually find a way to profit. Information on health services, job services, housing, legal rights and other services that the working class and the poor may need are often difficult to access in poor neighborhoods on your own but if you have broadband these services can be very easy to find and even other services that you may have never heard of are available because the internet is such a vast source of information. Getting that information as quickly as possible can cut down on time tremendously and low income people, just like everyones else, have limited time.
Broadband internet connectivity is becoming increasingly important in our advanced society. In order to keep up with business, communication, education, social networks and finding jobs, looking for information the internet is becoming a dominant force in our lives much like the phone was sixty or seventy years ago. The faster you can access information the more opportunites are available to you. Many websites can't be accessed or utilized to the full anymore with out broadband access. Dial up doesn't always cut it. It isn't a frivolous comfort or the non-necessity it may have been ten years ago. Those in low income areas need to be able to access the resources available to the rest of the world through broadband connectivity. It may even help someone lift themselves out of subsistence to creating a better life for themselves and their family.
Learn more about this author, Victoria Jeffrey.
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No
The topic of this debate opens up a rather large and wriggling can of worms without even realising it.
I live in what is officially designated a "Low Income Community". In the block where I live there are around 30 flats (apartments to those across the water). Within these apartments live families all of which contain at least two fit and active adults; however out of them all, I am the only person who works for a living. In recent years the workforce has been boosted with an influx of Eastern Europeans, who for the most part secure jobs almost immediately and work hard to send money back home to their families. So it is not a lack of work that stops the immediate indigenous people from being "poor" it is simply a matter of choice.
All of these people live on welfare, with most claiming illnesses that do not exist as this boosts the amount of money received; and prevents anyone annoying them to actually find work. This is fact whether the blind "do-gooders" accept it or not. I have no doubt that in other countries the economic and development situation is completely different and that desperate poverty is a fact of life. In developed countries however; I believe that the situation will be much the same as in my immediate surroundings.
Now to the matter of broadband.
In what way does a broadband internet connection or even the possession of a computer itself alleviate poverty and hardship? Some years ago, some bright-spark had the idea that all poor families required a computer; therefore they announced that within six months, a brand new up to spec PC would be delivered free of charge to all the households within a specific geographical area designated as poor. Immediately Ebay, newspaper ads and ads in shop windows were filled with offers of cheap PC's which would be available for pick up within six months! I suppose that was one way of alleviating poverty any way!
Around two years ago more money was pumped into our community under the banner "Digital Inclusion". What this effectively meant, was that all of the community centres were given several PC's with broadband internet connection and a big new community website was developed full of useful information about finances and health etc for the local people. Within a year, no-one from the general public had ever used the website and the forums were full of discussions from those who work in social projects within the community. I was asked to find out why.
I talked to literally thousands of people in the streets and also to those who run the community centres where the shiny new PC's were located. The results were that the majority of people questioned both old and young said that they had no interest in the internet or computers at all. A large number expressed that they never read books of any description. Out of those who did use the internet, a small number either used it for school or college work; however the majority used it to play games or download illegal software and/or movies. When asked about the new community website, those who used the internet said it was crap with generally no elaborations being able to be extracted. The community centres also expressed that their computers were primarily used by kids playing games and therefore the majority eventually dropped the broadband internet connection to save money.
This particular "low income" community that I live in, already has more than its fair share of free and underused educational facilities and it appears that what is required is for a lot of the inhabitants to be shaken up, with the "poor" being re-educated about the world of employment, self-sufficiency and advancement and far less of the "lets help the poor" attitude of those from comfortable backgrounds who know nothing about the situation other than what they were told by well-heeled university lecturers.
The supplying of "Broadband Internet" in particular to poor communities is a completely hair-brained idea and will make no difference to the individual lives of people living there whatsoever. For communities like mine a basic internet connection available at public libraries and community centres is all that is required for anyone wishing to make use of it. For those communities that are "poor" in the true sense of the word then I believe food, water, shelter and tools would be far more in demand.
Learn more about this author, Robert Anderson.
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