My oh my, where to even begin? Now that the president has taken a stance on the Net Neutrality issue, and issued a statement to the people, I am sure that you are all well aware of this problem by now. If not, see my previous blogs to fill yourself in. In a nutshell, Verizon, Comcast, Time-Warner, and At&t have gotten in bed with the FCC and have been trying to destroy the open internet as we know it.
The History of Deliberate Confusion in American Politics
We've all seen this before, over and over again; corporations taking over our country, one piece of government infrastructure at a time. For my generation, perhaps it started with the "Exporting of America" during the 90's, when many corporations outsourced their manufacturing jobs to countries like China and Hong Kong, to avoid paying U.S. taxes and exploit cheap labour. The result of that particular scandal was Americans being robbed of employment opportunities, because for every 20 year old American employment seeker, there are 10 more Chinese workers willing to do the same thing for 1/10 the wage. Call it 'capitalism', 'the way the world turns', or tell me 'tough luck, kid' if you want, but then ask yourself this:
Why do these corporations (that don't even pay taxes at home) still have
For example, I have a friend with dual citizenship; Canadian & American. When he works in Canada, he ends up having to pay taxes to both countries, and it ends up costing him more money in the end, than it does when he works in the U.S.A. However, this friend works for a company that exported to Hong Kong a couple years ago, and now that corporation is getting away with paying almost no taxes to Uncle Sam. How can that be? Are corporations not people after all?
While it depends on how to want to define a "person", it also depends on whether you consider the bribery that our politicians and leaders have taken from these companies. After all, it should be abundantly clear to everybody by now that our political system is a system of bribery, nothing less, nothing more. Foreign aid? Nope. It's foreign bribery. Campaign donations of undisclosed amounts from ultra-rich corporations? No, that's not called a donation, that is called a bribe.
You may be thinking: "Chev, we already know all this. So what is the point you're trying to make, and how does this relate to net neutrality, Republicans, and Democrats?"
Alright, let's talk about Net Neutrality
Recently, and finally, after millions of Americans called, emailed, wrote, protested, and even occupied the FCC in opposition to destroying Net Neutrality laws, (and with those laws the open internet a we know it), Obama finally took a stance and urged the FCC to "Adopt the strongest possible rules for net neutrality." This was big news, and appeared to be reason to celebrate our efforts. After a year of endless, seemingly futile political outreach, we finally got the president on our side! There is no way FCC chairman Tom Wheeler can ignore us now! At least, that is what I thought at the time. This happened because on November 6th, there were protests all over the country urging the president to do something (as he promised he would protect the internet during his campaign), and the FCC to honour the will of the American people. Prior to Obama's announcement, it seemed as if only one in ten Americans even knew what was going on with the internet, and why it mattered. Suffice to say, we had a sweet, but short lived moment of victory, until...
Ted Cruz Joins the Debate : Never Underestimate Stupid...
As if there wasn't already enough reason to despise the TEA party, after Obama made his statement, Ted Cruz issued perhaps the most ignorant statement of his life:
"...net neutrality is just ObamaCare for the internet..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, net neutrality blew up into a bipartisan issue, with ultra right wingers comparing it to 'Obamacare' simply because it was Obama that raised the desperately needed public awareness of this issue. Nice one Ted! Perfect timing... Now that the majority of America is actually somewhat aware of the net-neutrality issue, you have successfully twisted it into another ridiculous "Obama_X" debate. And we all know that there are many, many people who will, and do hate Obama simply because he is Obama, and they are Republicans. (Divide and conquer, remember?)
But I say no, not this time. I believe that this time the public will see through the bullshit and realize this is nothing more than a desperate attempt by the corporations that own the Tea Party (Koch brothers, anyone..?) to push their agendas in the midst of a serious threat; that threat being our president actually standing up for his people. God knows the TEA party will never allow that to happen without a fight.
Why Does Every Problem in American Become a "Party" Thing?
...because the political parties are responsible for all of the problems, every single time. This is probably the best example of bi-partisan manipulation I've ever witnessed. Take this into consideration:
Whether you consider yourself to be on the right, left, or independent, there's a good chance that until a couple days ago, you didn't even know that there was a heating debate over net neutrality laws. That's because the media has completely failed at doing its job (not to mention the mainstream media corporations also happen to be the same guys that want the authority to rape your wallet if you want to use Netflix or Youtube.) Now that you do know, I'm willing to bet that those of you who consider yourself members of the Republican party are already second-guessing the entire idea of net neutrality, simply because that's what you're party is doing. While that is probably not the case (because you're still reading this post) for you, it's pathetic when you consider that prior to Ted Cruz (stupid)'s remarks, you didn't even know what net neutrality was to begin with!
The Corporate/Bi-Partisan Link
Now ask yourself why the Republicans are taking this stance. The conclusion that I hope you arrive at it is because they are owned by these corporations. With that in mind, I urge each and every one of you to do your homework before taking a stance in the net neutrality debate. Please do not get suckered into working against your own best interests. Because after all, that is the sole agenda of the TEA party.
The Point
Keeping the internet open and free, while preserving equal access and opportunity for all is not an 'Obama thing', or a 'Democrat thing', it is a human rights thing. It's the single reason for the dot com booms we enjoyed in the 90's. It's the reason Google has had such success with it's open source Android operating system. It's freedom of choice, freedom of speech, freedom of information, and freedom for entraprenours to innovate without a liscense from the rich. That's all I have to say. The ball is in your court.
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