[11662] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: The EFF and Universal Access -- and Andrew Carnegie
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (David Rothman)
Wed Apr 13 02:52:44 1994
In-Reply-To: <199404122010.AA28710@radiomail.net>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 19:15:39 -0400
To: "Bill Frezza" <frezza@radiomail.net>
Cc: brodsky@radiomail.net, ggilder@mcimail.com, interesting-people@eff.org,
farber@central.cis.upenn.edu, opfer@radiomail.net,
media15@radiomail.net, stahlman@radiomail.net, com-priv@psi.com,
barlow@eff.org, jswatz@well.sf.ca.us, kgs@panix.com
From: "David Rothman" <rothman@netcom.com>
Reply-To: rothman@netcom.com
Asked for your general philosophy of government, you replied:
>The most moral form of government is a stricly limited constitutional
>democracy that concerns itself ONLY with protecting its citizens
>from acts of force or fraud. In order to achieve this end, thereby
>securing the blessings of liberty, the government is granted a
>monopoly on the use of force to be used ONLY in the service of
>the above mandate.
Fair enough. Although you have not said, "I'm against public schools,"
it's clear that you aren't gung ho on the concept. Even tuition vouchers
or knowledge stamps would appear to contradict the above philosophy.
Public highways, for that matter, would, too. Ditto for public health
departments, unless AIDS and TB are forms of "force or fraud."
Your allusion to a "consitutional democracy" is a little puzzling.
Unless we can understand what the government is up to--unless citizens
can not only receive information but also have the educational
background to absorb it--I don't see how we can make intelligent
choices. I myself am grouchy about public officials in general. But just
think what they'd be like, if even fewer voters enjoyed good educations.
All in all, is it just possible that EFF's views are a little closer to
those of most folks?
Nothing wrong with being in a minority, of course. It's just that you'll
be a trifle inconsistent if you portray EFF as part of a bleeding-heart
scheme to impose an offbeat ideology on the unwilling masses. If
anything, I suspect, many grassroots people would want EFF to be *more*
aggressive on the issue of affordable information for all.
>What they [turn-of-the-century moguls] lacked was a basic moral defense of
>capitalism, someone to defend the fact that their wealth was for
>the most part theirs to do with as they pleased BY RIGHT. (I am
>specifically excepting any wealth obtained from receiving
>government favors or perpetrating acts of force or fraud.) I hope the
>Bill Gates and the other entrepreneurs of the information revolution
>don't make the same mistake.
Whoops. There goes Bill G's plan to orbit all those satellites and set
up a global communications net. I hear he just might have to enjoy the
favor of a few regulators ;-).
My own philosophy? Well, I have the nerve to believe in public schools
(though not for those wanting other choices), public libraries (though
I'm a booster of good bookstores as well), and, yes, welfare (for the
aged, the sick and others who truly need it--including welfare mothers
without decent childcare alternatives). At the same time I know
government can't do everything. If the feds do seek free HBO for all,
I'll be in the trenches with you--DC needs priorities. What's more, I
oppose user-to-user subsidies as a panacea for *everything*; I've warned
of the risks of cannibalizing the information market rather than
expanding it. Instead government and industry need to work together to
drive down the cost of basic technology and create synergies that would
benefit rich and poor alike. Do you know what you should be hating as
much as taxes per se? Paperwork. The government takes up hundreds of
billions of dollars of our time each year, and with better planning, we
could reduce this intrusion and cost-justify the e-libraries and
facilitate commerce through multiple apps.
Interesting debate, but as a small business type with taxes coming up, I
have to take care of that. Wish the feds would wise asap up so we could
benefit from those synergies; April is the cruelest month ;-).
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David H. Rothman "So we beat on, boats against
rothman@netcom.com the current...."
805 N. Howard St., #240
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