“Our democracy, our constitutional framework is really a kind of software for harnessing the creativity and political imagination for all of our people. The American democratic system was an early political version of Napster.” (Sept. 2000)
— Al Gore
The Internet has been misused so badly, from its initial selling point, for dissemination of knowledge,
It really has been a mirror for which to see all of man’s weaknesses on display,
From Russian information warfare, to algorithms to extract wealth, to those who do the immoral to gain more than fifteen minutes of fame,
And I find that its potential is disregarded, an easy check of one’s assumption or beliefs are moments away, but the opportunity for a more accurate truth is rejected.
I recall my first moments on the Internet long ago, it was a novel experience, even though I had worked on computers for some time, the potential was breathtaking,
And over the years there has been a steady erosion of ethics, and decency attached to this technological game changer,
The swindlers, grifters, and other petty criminals abound, it is defilement of great potential, the worst of mankind, Eden’s serpent’s deceit,
And returning to its use for propaganda, it perhaps was not realized by those who developed it, how sinister it has become.
So a kind of sickness to the stomach arises with the thoughts of what the Internet has become,
The worst of mankind is in one’s hands, and one’s safety, physical, mental and spiritual are all under siege, it’s the Wild West still, without the glamor,
I continue to use this technology for its intended purpose, and although I too have social media addiction to a degree, I’ve learned as a buyer to always be aware,
So technology in the hands of vice-filled humans only is a tool for destruction, the technology has perhaps had not positive effect for desirable social change, as one would assume its developers thought it would,
There was the Department of Defense impetus for the development of course, but surely the application would prove to be more encompassing in its benefits.
We each are our own driver, some choose to disobey the rules of decency, and the anonymity is empowering to them,
To me the Internet is still beneficial, for a kid who thumbed through encyclopedias, and I’ve had my taste of using it incorrectly to,
But it is really disappointing, with a human race which has largely failed a test,
And with other advancements, we can only expect the same,
Seems in some ways man has devolved even through the World Wide Web,
Will this ever change? Can man use technology to help progress in the ways virtue, or will it always be up to the individual mind and heart?
17th posting, February 28, 2023