@tonymcs
@DanaBlankenhorn
The modern United States was build on the ideas of Classical Liberalism, and then later, Social Liberalism.
"Classical liberalism is a political ideology that developed in the nineteenth century in Western Europe, and the Americas. It was committed to the ideal of limited government and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets. It drew on the economics of Adam Smith, a psychological understanding of individual liberty, natural law and utilitarianism, and a belief in progress." Wikipedia (
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Classical_liberalism )
"Government, as explained by Adam Smith, had only three functions: protection against foreign invaders, protection of citizens from wrongs committed against them by other citizens, and building and maintaining public institutions and public works that the private sector could not profitably provide ." Wikipedia (
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Classical_liberalism )
The private sector could not profitably provide the Interstate Highway system. Putting up toll roads, the only way for the private sector to get a return on such an investment, would make most people not use the roads, thus making it unprofitable.
But more importantly, there comes a time when a technology reaches the point where some governing body must set standards. Returning to roads for a moment, you can't have half the drivers driving on the right hand side and the other half driving on the left hand side. You need to standardize this or risk collisions.
As for the Internet, I bet you pay some private sector firm money each month in order to have access to the Internet. That's because it is profitable for private sector Internet Service Providers to exist.
However, if you remember the bad old days of Compuserve, you'll remember that there were competing networks which were not interoperable. They were private toll roads which only took you to where the provider wanted you to go. This meant that the providers limited your liberty . Liberty is the central core principle of liberalism. The word, liberal comes from the word liberty . A Liberal is one who favours personal liberty .
When someone had the bright idea of giving the public direct access to arpanet, a large network which was based on interoperability and which prized personal liberty above all (as anyone who's ever browsed the alt.whatever news groups would know), the Internet as we know it was born. " Under social liberalism, the good of the community is viewed as harmonious with the freedom of the individual. " Wikipedia (
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Social_liberalism ) An interoperable standards-based universally-accessible computer network is good for the community because it enhances the liberty of the individual.
But as any ignoramus will tell you, anything that's designed for the community's benefit would automatically be communism
.
Sorry I am not at the office right now, please leave a message at the beep.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a journalist, writer and part-time futurist for over 30 years.
