by Dana Larson

Created on: April 16, 2008

Of course Big Brother wants to monitor and tax the internet. That's their way of acknowledging that the internet is powerful. Heaven forbid such a powerful tool should be unmonitored by the government! Heaven forbid people should have a free forum to discuss whatever is important to them! Discussion promotes understanding, understanding brings knowledge and knowledge is power. It's no wonder the government feels threatened and is attemtping to take control of such a weapon as knowledge.

Freedom of speech should be just that, FREE! At no other time in history has it been possible for the exchange of ideas to happen almost instantaneously. This is a miraculous development, yet a fleeting one if the government gets their claws in it. Can you imagine what the internet would look like if it were monitored and taxed? Suddenly the free flow of ideas lurches to a stop. The trickle of information that's left is censored. If Big Brother doesn't approve of the subject matter, it's unavailable. All that's left is a watered down version of what once was a cornicopia of communication.

The expression, "Give them an inch and they'll take a mile," is the best argument for the government to stay out of the business of human communication. First comes the Patriot Act, then comes monitoring of the internet, then comes censorship and arrests without charges and indefinite incarcerations. The number one argument for the monitoring of the internet by the government is fear; fear of terrorists, fear of sexual predators, fear of anything and everything that goes 'bump' in the night. The important question is, "What does the government fear?"

What does the government fear? Terrorists have attacked our country and the government is still in place. A woman is raped or brutalized every few seconds and the government is still in place. What is the government actually vulnerable to? It is vulnerable to the people. If the people decided, en masse, that the government didn't have it's best interests at heart, there could be changes made or at worst a bloody revolution akin to that which occured at the founding of this country. Those who have benefited from the government, such as it is, greatly fear the ceasation of their benefits. Therefore, they are afraid of the free exchange of ideas which might lead to the death of their way of life.

It is my belief that the government should fear the people. If they didn't, what's to stop them from abusing every power that is? Fear of the people's uprising is a healthy fear. How else is the government to remain in it's proper place; "of the people by the people and for the people." -Abraham Lincoln, 1863

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