.
Part III.
ON THE
ATTITUDE OF THE GLOBAL INTERNET COMMUNITY TOWARD NETWORK
DEMOCRACY
"These proceedings may at first
appear strange and difficult; but, like all other steps
which we have already passed over, [the ideas]
will in a little time become familiar and
agreeable."
--
Thomas Paine, Common Sense ........
WHEN Tom
Paine wrote Common
Sense in 1776, his purpose was persuading the people
to support a revolution against the crown. He gave
logical reasons for liberty from all royalty rule, and he
convinced his readers (including George Washington) that
freedom could be won by a determined people. Paine's work
also influenced Jefferson in writing the American
Declaration of Independence.
Our situation today is parallel
and equally urgent, yet volatile conditions invite a far
gentler response than a gunfire on Bunker Hill. If this
modern rewrite of a classic can do any good, I pray that
Global Sense can help inspire us toward a
declaration of our interdependence on network earth.
Peace will follow.
Deferring Internet democracy for
another generation is a mistake. We already are mature
enough to make democracy work , if we but see our deep
interactivity. Why wait until "we the people" are leaning
out windows and shouting at the network that we're mad as
Beale, and we're not going to take it any
more?
Stop the War
Before it Starts
Battle lines are being drawn
between factions fighting to rule mass media. Before the
Internet self-destructs from us demonizing our
adversaries and polarizing the online community, before
we insist everyone must be either friend or foe, before
we trashcan a good thing, why not accept that all of our
lives are interlaced, that every act has consequences,
forgive our childhood pain, grow up, and "do the right
thing" for our civilization? Aren't we finished yet with
global whining?
Please, stop the Internet war
before it starts. End the rancor here and now. Release
residual anger from past dissension. Embrace our
connectivity. Account for all the network stakeholders
yet unborn in our decisions. Why not ordain and establish
a constitution that helps us form a more perfect union?
Why not liberate our hearts and minds to imagine and
create new realities that we cannot yet even
imagine?
With little more than a "what
if?" attitude and a "can do" spirit, the modern Internet
has become the most powerful cultural force for democracy
and global free trade in human history. Any attempts
today to divert or subvert this cultural movement may be
too little too late. The Internet is here, and it's here
to stay.
Rather than trying to postpone
humanity's destined rite of passage into adulthood by
perpetuating "oldthink" addictions to monarchies and
autocracies, shall we take advantage of our present
"window of opportunity" and mature enough to give real
democracy a fair chance for success? We are naturally
good and deserve freedom.
Why not let the mind conceive a
vision of network
democracy as a quantum
leap beyond hereditary succession?Why not take the next
evolutionary step ?
If together we can practice the
interactivity we preach, we may create a democratic
system of Internet management. We may model a mode of
doing business in the world that could push the most
repressive regimes on earth onto the broadband highway
toward honest communication and genuine democracy.
An open Internet can topple
tyrannies like dominoes.
Network
Democracy Makes Global Sense
Until network democracy is
declared, we will be as the old procrastinator who day by
day kept putting off an upsetting business, wishing that
the chore was over, that someone else had done the job
for him, always knowing what must be done, always haunted
by the necessity for action.
Nobody will solve our problems
for us, but nobody can succeed alone. If we want the job
done right, we need to do the work together, each of us,
without waiting for saviors to save us. After our toil
arrives rejoicing, gratitude for a chance to do work that
matters, the peace of knowing we did what we knew was
right for everyone.
Let us take the time now to
think and act with care, but we cannot delay too long.
Many of the proposals have impending implementation
dates. Why wait for passing days and weeks and months as
the technocrats become entrenched? Why wait until reality
slams shut the door on our generation's best chance to
have a constitutional network government that helps
uplift our souls? Bring ascension down to
earth.
Timely and calm protests
to industry and government
leaders can postpone
full implementation of any Internet governance proposal
[ICANN].
We have a duty today to safeguard freedom for tomorrow.
That's the job of every generation.
Each one of us matters
now. Will we waive our rights for the comfort of
never getting personally involved?
A future revolt will never be necessary if we use our
common sense now to meet together in good faith and speak
reasonably in light of our shared interactivity. Please
heed this appeal for an "evolution revolution." Each of
us has miles to grow, so why deny our duty to live
responsibly free?
In our interactive world,
network democracy makes global sense.
-o-
WE stand today at a
convergence of many pathways. Shall we cross the
communication bridges dividing us and pave a digital
avenue to network democracy? Instead of eyeing one
another with suspicion and doubt, why not extend to our
neighbors the sincere hand of friendship? Why not unite
in the certain knowledge of our universal interactivity?
Freedom abides where we practice responsible self rule.
On such grounds and in your
hands, the question now rests. Will democracy or
technocracy, freedom or tyranny, rule the new century and
the new millennium? Now is the time for all good people
to come to the aid of our Internet. 
Ken
Freed
Denver, 1997
[Rev. 1999]
 .PRIOR
SECTION
|
INDEX
| APPENDICES
|
