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So if we can make it through the next 20-25 years, the people in power will protect technology for us, not fear it. Remind me how well this has worked out for

So if we can make it through the next 20-25 years, the people in power will protect technology for us, not fear it. Remind me how well this has worked out for the War on Drugs.

libraryatnight 15y ago
Right? We can still have hope, I suppose.
adgar 15y ago
That's the thing - its not just about the representative and his/her values, it's about the constituents. There's still too many people alive and voting who oppose eg marijuana legalization to touch it. I think that's going to take another couple decades of attrition. Luckily, even old people like the Internet.
- marquis 15y ago
  There are also a lot of young people being brought up conservative. I don't believe conservatism is going to magically disappear after a few generations, we can only hope that exposure to global cultures build tolerance: to spread global culture we need an open internet so it's our responsibility to fight for this, as I see it (though, that statement is a given in here).
  - thyrsus 15y ago
    I hope that's true. I'm worried that it will be too easy to avoid reality by staying with comfortable, ideologically compatible sources -- which is a problem regardless of ideology.
Matt_Cutts 15y ago
Just as a counterpoint, I'll drop this link: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/11/05/support-for-same-sex-marriage-by-age-and-state/ http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/11/05/support-for-... . The articles notes that "The data supports the notion that younger people are more supportive of gay marriage than older people ... 18-29 year-olds in Alabama, for example, are more supportive of gay marriage than people 65 and older in Massachusetts." Several issues that currently divide the United States have this property where age matters, and in 20-25 years things that are controversial now might not be considered as controversial. My claim (hope?) is that protecting the internet is one of those issues.

So if we can make it through the next 20-25 years, the people in power will protect technology for us, not fear it. Remind me how well this has worked out for the War on Drugs.

libraryatnight 15y ago

Right? We can still have hope, I suppose.

adgar 15y ago

That's the thing - its not just about the representative and his/her values, it's about the constituents. There's still too many people alive and voting who oppose eg marijuana legalization to touch it. I think that's going to take another couple decades of attrition. Luckily, even old people like the Internet.

marquis 15y ago
There are also a lot of young people being brought up conservative. I don't believe conservatism is going to magically disappear after a few generations, we can only hope that exposure to global cultures build tolerance: to spread global culture we need an open internet so it's our responsibility to fight for this, as I see it (though, that statement is a given in here).
- thyrsus 15y ago
  I hope that's true. I'm worried that it will be too easy to avoid reality by staying with comfortable, ideologically compatible sources -- which is a problem regardless of ideology.

Matt_Cutts 15y ago

Just as a counterpoint, I'll drop this link: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/11/05/support-for-same-sex-marriage-by-age-and-state/ http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/11/05/support-for-... . The articles notes that "The data supports the notion that younger people are more supportive of gay marriage than older people ... 18-29 year-olds in Alabama, for example, are more supportive of gay marriage than people 65 and older in Massachusetts." Several issues that currently divide the United States have this property where age matters, and in 20-25 years things that are controversial now might not be considered as controversial. My claim (hope?) is that protecting the internet is one of those issues.