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RE: Is or should internet access be a human right?

in #politics • 7 years ago

Expand your mind, my friend. Internet is not only facebook, cat videos and HD pr0n.

With a connection to the internet, you have the whole world's knowledge at your disposal with the touch of a button. That is the real power. That is the reason why dictatorships try to limit access to the web.
When you have connection, you have the means to better your life in all aspects.

7 years ago in #politics by
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     7 years ago  

    Yes. Expand your mind and don't forget the basics.
    I agree, Internet is a great resource, but:

    1. Internet is not on the same level as water and food. Without water and food, you die. It is easy for us on Steemit to forget how many people don't have access to human rights of which we easily wave off as 'of course' without realizing that we are not even close to providing these human rights to the whole world. Real-life-or-dead rights. We've lived thousands of years without internet, we'll survive (we won't evolve as quickly, but we'll survive), tell me how much time you survive about food and water.
    2. The reason Steemit exists is the need for paying those who create good content directly. But the average person consumes much more than they produce. You have the knowledge to your disposal, if you know how to use it correctly. But if we don't educate, we get a world of consumers of content. Internet is more than Facebook, cat videos and HD pr0n, but in 70% of the world, your country has Facebook is one of the top 10 (if not no. 1) websites, and has at least 3 (if not more) pr0n sites in the top 50 websites visited. So yeah, there is more to Internet than that. But, if we don't educate, a very large of the world will miss all the great opportunities of the Internet, just like we have been doing for the past 20+ years. I can expand my mind (which is educating), but I won't ignore reality.

    For my work I'm on the pro online/social media side every day, was fun looking at it from another perspective for once ;)

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     7 years ago  

    See @puukallistaja, reading more of your comments, I understand your view a lot better. I studied in Helsinki for 3 months and actually visited Tallinn twice for projects. I was amazed that public parks in Estonia had free wifi and would wish that one day we would have that in Suriname as well. Unfortunately, Estonia is an outlier, and we are nowhere close to the Scandinavians in the rest of the world. Maybe Western Europe, maybe the larger cities worldwide, but definitely not in rural areas and developing countries. I do think Internet can help with closing the gap, but it still is a tool. You can't put up wifi signals and expect them to connect with their Nokia 3310 (the original), if they have a phone in the first place. And computers and smartphone still cost hundreds of dollars, so how can internet be a basic human right if the devices needed to access it are someone yearly salary?

    On another note, if you are serious about making it a basic human need, I would love to reach out and see if a development project is possible between Suriname and Finland/Estonia to improve e-learning.

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       7 years ago  

      Waddup. I am not living in the north at the moment, so I might not be the best person to reach out to. But I will contact you through your company's website and lets share some thoughts. Too bad that steemit does not have private messaging.

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