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> Information is available “almost literally for free and instantly” to people who can afford a device that connects to the internet. ... and who have a suffic
by pandler 8y ago
> Information is available “almost literally for free and instantly” to people who can afford a device that connects to the internet.
... and who have a sufficient working knowledge of how computers and the internet work in order to take advantage of that information.
In line with what you and others have said, what I've observed at the libraries I've been to is that the people who get the most value out of libraries are the people that would otherwise be left behind by technology. I don't think that's something we can or should dismiss out of hand just because I/we don't personally get a lot of value from them. That is, unless we want to develop an underclass of people shut out from the rest of society.
- mmirate 8y agoAs long as the police still do their jobs, why does the existence of such an underclass worry you?
- danso 8y agoI can't think of any U.S. law enforcement agencies that have ever asserted (either as a primary or secondary mission) to take care of or otherwise manage the impoverished underclass. Can you cite any examples that you know of?
- mmirate 8y agoNo, unless you are using "manage the underclass" as a euphemism for "protect us from crime, including that committed by subsets of the underclass". Because that is what I was referring to. Nothing more, nothing less. The only downside of creating an underclass is when they commit crimes; but managing this downside is part of the police's job. (n.b. income inequality isn't illegal; theft and murder, are.)
- danso 8y agoNo, I do not think it a euphemism. The user you responded to (u/pandlet) gave no indication that his concern that “an underclass of people shut out from the rest of society” was related to fear that the poor committing crimes. You don’t think there’s reasons other than fear to be unhappy about the existence of a “shut out” underclass?
- mmirate 8y agoNo. If I don't fear them, then they're of no consequence and I don't care about them.