This might go down as one of the shortest wars in history, or acts of terrorism if you like. The problem of course is that some internet cowboys are going to fail to capture the hearts and minds of the public. The problem is that they possess uncompelling values or principles.
The WikiLeaks website is now hosted by the Swiss Pirate Party. Its vice president Pascal Gloor said:
"There is a whole new generation, digital natives, born with the internet, that understands the freedom of communication....It's not a left-right thing anymore. It's a generational thing between the politicians who don't understand that it's too late for them to regulate the internet and the young who use technology every day".
The problem of course is that it was never a 'left-right thing' because that was never a valid political dichotomy.
Their second problem is that its not about control over the internet either. It is about control of money. Why is that important? It drives decision-making. People don't want to love money, and the governments control the banks and business. Soon the government will be reaching into everyone's homes. No data connected to the internet will be private. In fact, there is every reason to think that any device with a wireless or bluetooth connection will be accessible by the government. Big Brother is close at hand. The ability of government to monitor keywords makes it all too easy to trace and monitor conversations and text.
This will be a short lived war because they idealists have no idea. The reality is that people have no power to determine their own destinies. It is improbable that anyone will be able to make a difference unless they can communicate ideas. How can you do that if the government can seize, trace and destroy any source of offending material. Just as the printing press enabled the Industrial Revolution, the ability of the governments to monitor 'sensitive' information, will allow it to destroy any information or person who sponsors the distribution of information. The new war will be fought through old technology. Political activities might need to write certain things online and other things offline.
The collectivists are going to win this short-lived war. It remains to be seen whether the flow of ideas will avert a 2nd Dark Ages. My expectation is that it will. There are already signs of improvement, however it is too early to say.
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Author
Andrew Sheldon
