The First Amendment of the Constitution states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Sounds great, right? There was a reason the founders put the First Amendment first, and put so much in it, for they knew something we seemed to have forgotten, or perhaps this generation never knew. Living in a free society, having freedom isn't free if someone doesn't have the opportunity to express themselves, either by having ridiculous holidays, having the right to waste money, march on Washington, DC being led by comedians, or Chicken Little. All of those moronic ideas I linked are covered by the First Amendment, as is the subject of today's BWB: freedom of the press, specifically on the internet.
Because of the First Amendment's freedom of the press, which gives freedom of content on the internet, I am able to find, write about, link to, and comment on a whole slew of things, such as: gay animals, kissing cousins, self-destructive retards, interesting political commentary, whack jobs with nothing better to do than write terrible books fifteen people buy, wicked cool movie trailers, the best song of all-time, and even the worst. I thank Jemmy Madison and good ole TJ and the rest of the founding fathers of this nation for the right and ability to do so.
With the good, funny, and theinformational also comes the bad, but such is life. All joking aside, for those of you who do not know about the FCC's attempt at net neutrality, you must stop and take a look before it is too late. Under the guise of bringing the internet to the masses (as if it isn't already widely available for every American, generally,) they will seek to put stringent guidelines, rules, laws and regulations over anything and everything which is sent over the web. In other words: CENSORSHIP.
BWB contends the idea of censorship "for the sake of the children" is laudable, but still not the right of the government, no matter what our "in the best interest of most Americans" government thinks. It isn't the government's business what is in my best interest when it comes to my entertainment, political ideas, or even what I secretly believe, but not have the heart to write.
It is the Federal Government's job to regulate trade and commerce, protect our borders, build infrastructure, and that's about it. One could argue the internet is the greatest of all infrastructure, and I would agree. The government does already crack down and monitor internet traffic, protecting millions across the globe from hackers, right?
There is a fight brewing in Washington right now about net neutrality; the fight is only just beginning. Send an e-mail to your Congressman and Senators right away and ask them to not support net neutrality. No only that, I recommend writing them every single solitary day, telling them how you feel on every single topic known to you. After all, they represent you, and should thus vote accordingly.
I will leave you with two divergent opinions on this topic. The first, a supporter of net neutrality and government clampdowns in general, Hugo Chavez.
He probably hasn't heard of the deceased, yet dissenting voice, that of Voltaire, whose most famous attributed quote wasn't actually his, it seems. (Funny, I only found this out thanks to a free and open internet.)
Thanks again, James Madison!!!
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