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You are more correct than you probably realize. As http://cis471.blogspot.com/2012/08/seeding-internet-cost-government-1245.html http://cis471.blogspot.com/201
by btilly 6y ago
You are more correct than you probably realize.
As http://cis471.blogspot.com/2012/08/seeding-internet-cost-government-1245.html http://cis471.blogspot.com/2012/08/seeding-internet-cost-gov... lays out, the government spent $25 million on ARPAnet, the first packet switched network and the granddaddy of our current Internet. So it was actually the same figure as this grant. (There were followup investments from the government, but the whole thing was around $125 million.)
- jancsika 6y agoSo $25 million on a decentralized system to spread the idea not to wear a mask or social distance during a pandemic, and another $25 million on a vaccine.
- zamfi 6y agoYou’re being downvoted presumably for snark, which as a lover of snark I can’t support. However, your point is also mislaid: there were plenty of anti-maskers at the time of the 1918 Influenza pandemic. Ignoring or selectively using facts to support the narrative you wish were true did not start with the internet!
- oblio 6y ago> Ignoring or selectively using facts to support the narrative you wish were true did not start with the internet! My guess is that those probably predate speech :-D
- freeflight 6y agoThere even was a whole "Anti-Mask League" in SF [0], with others demanding jail time for "mask slackers" [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Mask_League_of_San_Francisco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Mask_League_of_San_Franci... [1] https://www.history.com/news/1918-pandemic-public-health-campaigns https://www.history.com/news/1918-pandemic-public-health-cam...
- DiogenesKynikos 6y agoThere was also heavy government censorship of the press during WWI, which suppressed early reports of the pandemic. That should be a cautionary tale to people in the present day who want more centralized control over what people can say online - the censors might not always be on your side.
- Darmody 6y agoIs that the only thing you get from the internet? I'd say that more like a small price to pay in order to have something really great.