MHSJenkins

I honestly think that's what we can do: start to build free, parallel structures and attract folks to join us. We can't outspend Google but we can opt out of their ecosystem to some degree or another both collectively and individually.

"Imaginary numbers"? Sounds like that DC fuzzy math . . .

And thank you for bringing that up as it helps me illustrate my central point: the importance of a free internet isn't online life in and of itself, but rather what the open flow of information and communication enable us to do in order to make the world a better place. Thanks for allowing me to clarify.

It's a real challenge in large portions of the world. So many national governments are perfectly happy with a corporatized, compartmentalized internet--and willing to pass legislation to keep it that way.

I absolutely agree, but I don't think it's too much to say that digital freedom and more important access to the internet and the various tools it offers played a starring roll in the Arab Spring.

Thank you for that insightful response. I appreciate you taking the time.

The motives and politics are absolutely petty. The results are an ongoing nightmare.

How would you suggest using the internet without search engines, and can that be accomplished in a way that is accessible to the average person?

Everything is going according to plan.

Stay tuned, as I have thoughts and ideas on that in an upcoming article.

(Make sure to like and subscribe, as the YouTubers say ;) )

"When a hero comes along . . ."

It's not a recent thing but there was a pretty serious resurgence of it around waitforit the turn of the millennia back in 1999/2000, with a followup in 2012 when we all thought the Mayan calendar was going to run out for some reason. My observation is that these events had a deeper impact on world thinking than I realized at the time.