Let me begin by laying the foundation here. I am no hater. I love the internet.
While I don’t support SOPA/PIPA, I didn’t jump on that internet bandwagon yesterday. I wrote to my senators, linked to their contact information on Facebook and Twitter, and sat back bewildered. People in my circles and streams were waxing about putting an end to SOPA. People of all stripes raged with passion and action and used their voices. I respect that and I admittedly get a rush when I exercise my civic duty. I love the internet the way it is and I don’t support the government tinkering with it. I want the government to stay out of my computer and out of my body. But that’s a different topic…
I was floored by all the SOPA protests and blacking out of avatars and websites. I don’t disagree, mind you. I was simply stunned because it was the only time I can recall people of all political, religious, social leanings banding together with a unified voice that spoke to the greater whole. So often people grease their vocal chords to preach about something that is of interest to themselves or a select group rather than society or a community. Most of the time people make themselves at home on a soapbox it’s about an issue that helps an individual. People by and large vote the same way, for individual gain or to protect infdividual rights. Our local school system is a clusterf*&# right now because too many people sat back thinking they were insulated from change and/or didn’t see reason to advocate against change that would harm others. It’s easier to protest and block passage of change than it is to reverse a ruling, so many of the people who didn’t act over the last two years just might be screwed. The small, devoted few cannot move mountains, and enough people didn’t engage when the battle was at its bloodiest.
My point is this: Yesterday’s SOPA protest banded people together on common ground for common good. There was outrage, drive, energy, and verve unlike anything I’ve seen. My social media streams were teeming with SOPA messages and fighting words. My mind was saturated with SOPA/PIPA.
And it all made me really quite sad.
What if we all used our voices in outrage to put an end to poverty and support education? What if we shed our political colors in favor of purple, a blend of red and blue, so we could work together for common good? What does it say about a society that is outraged about the internet but not outraged about hungry children?
Consider this:
- 16.4 million children in the United States, 22.0 percent of all children, lived in poverty in 2010.
- More than six million of these children were under six years old. I happen to know one.
- Of the 16.4 million poor children, nearly half, 7.4 million, lived in extreme poverty (family income of less than around $11,000 annually)
- North Carolina annual expenditure per prisoner: $28,871
- North Carolina annual expenditure per public school pupil: $ 7,396
Excellent points! And how terribly shameful about the cost per student vs, cost per prisoner. Perhaps if we spent more then there wouldn’t be as many prisoners in the first place. Crazy notion I know! And if we are to get on a soapbox about inadequate education – why are the arts always the first to get cut, even if there is a boatload of evidence about all the positive things it can do for young minds – and keep them in school!
I am wondering if the whole SOPA protest has something to do with the fact that it could affect one’s own personal piece of the Internet and dammit – I’m not going to give that up!