The Poet's Eye- (first draft) Wild West

[Lightning Rod]

One of the paradoxes of American culture is the Wild West Paradox. We love the concept of the Wild West and yet we forever try to tame it with civilization and laws. We are fascinated with but at the same time abhor the untamed.

We, as a nation, are evenly divided (within the margin of error) between those who value freedom and those who value security. This democratic dichotomy is evident in the current presidential race and also exists in each one of us. We're all swing voters.

The internet is the Wild West. It is untamed, not controllable by the usual means. It's the telephone gone wild with nasty pictures and space for every dogma and superstition and political conviction. It's the kind of formal anarchy that terrifies government insects. This is why John Ashcroft is so dead bent on getting a legal handle on it.

Before 9/11 Ashcroft was trying to convince you that the Net was a vehicle for pederasts and now he's saying that it is a tool for terrorists. He tried to lasso it with the Patriot Act.

Last week, Federal District Judge Victor Marrero struck down a USA Patriot Act provision allowing the FBI to gather phone and Web customer records and then barring the service providers from ever disclosing that the search took place. These are classic police state tactics.

Ashcroft intends to appeal the decision of course.

"We believe the act to be completely consistent with the United States Constitution," he said.

I don't know whose Constitution he is reading. My copy has a First and Fourth Amendment. We have Constitutional protection against unlawful search and seizure and are guaranteed free speech. The Patriot Act abridges both of these rights with no demonstrable effect on terrorism.

The neo-cons, who are running the show in Washington these days, want to convince you that they are protecting you when what they are really doing is arranging to control your lives. The Patriot Act was a blatant move to increase surveillance and to facilitate prosecution of our own citizens rather than to detect and fight any possible foreign terrorists. President Bush is pushing Congress to renew the Patriot Act before it expires next year.

Bloggers and independent columnists like me are terribly inconvenient for the powers that be. They would rather you accept the news as presented by Fox or the other corporate owned media outlets. This is the information age and control of information is almost as important as control of oil. The internet is manic, uncontrollable information. It comes from all directions and is at least as unverifiable as a political speech. It's a menace to the control insects, and they are determined to harness it.

If the Net is a tool for freedom, it is an equally effective device for surveillance and control. The insects just haven't figured out how to control it yet.

But technology always triumphs. The six-gun tamed the Wild West. It's only a matter of time before the Wild West of the internet is 'tamed' by some six-gun, be it spyware or secret court orders or invasive laws.

The Poet's Eye sees the Wild West riding into the sunset.

[Zlatko Waterman]

suggestion:

" We are fascinated with but (at the same time) abhor . . ."

--Z

[abcrystcats]

Another great editorial, Lightning Rod! Thanks!

[Lightning Rod]

good edit Zlatko

Cat, thanks

[e_dog]

this wild west may be untamable, however, becuase it has an ever expanding frontier, unlike the old wild west with limited space. technology is on both side of the problem: there was no technological anwer to the guns that one the west that could favor anarchy, whereas the technologies of 'anarchic' that is, spontaneous and people run (as opposed to corporate or gov't -controlled) internet are feasible and always being developed.