Few things can overshadow the spectacular beauty of the Grand Canyon South Rim. The North Rim is one of those.
From the South Rim, you enjoy the surreal beauty of the canyon at a tremendous distance and with a massive abyss separating you from the gorgeous formations. From the North Rim, your experience is a closer and a more personal one. You could almost touch the colors and the rocks.
Only when you have experienced both rims could you truly understand the canyon’s magnificence.
The oddest outcome from the anti-SOPA blackouts is the realization that (some of) our politicians simply do not understand the magnificence of the Internet and miss two critical socio-economic points:
- The source of any real goodwill left from the rest of the world towards the United States, and
- The important role the U.S. still plays in the present and future as an innovation hub.
On the first point, the blackout responses across the world confirms what we all new (except some politicians) about how much U.S. innovations (Wikipedia, Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter) have been embraced by individuals all over the world, regardless of their social class, race, political views or religious preferences.
People outside the United States embrace them because these innovations are accessible as free tools that speak to humans and about human needs. These tools have enriched their lives in ways they found fit in the NEW world order.
As a Fulbright scholar who experienced first-hand a US tax-funded program designed to reach out to third world countries, I can tell you that no such program, regardless of how much tax-payer money is behind it, could ever, ever match the positive impact free and accessible innovations like Wikipedia have achieved. Nor can we make similar impact claim from any non-profit designed to bring donations to help the people in other countries.
On the second point, aren’t the politicians behind SOPA capable of common sense thinking? I recently read the incredibly interesting book Thinking, Fast and Slow by the Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and I wonder if these politicians lack both systems. Are they simply incapable of seeing where the United States strength has been since the Tim Bernes-Lee‘s Hello world message? Or, do they see it and are terrified of falling in the abyss? Could they ever cross the chasm that prevents them from experiencing the beauty of the new world order?
Innovative individuals with free-enterprise and entrepreneurship spirits have earned goodwill from the rest of the world and are a key role as an innovative force worldwide because the United States is founded and operates on principles that engender free-enterprise and innovation. At the core of the United State’s heart is the pursuit of knowledge and the willingness to share it and empower others with it.
So, today, in honor of those politicians who opposed the very first versions of SOPA and PIPA, I raise my cup (of Cappuccino) and ask you to do the same because they are thinking individuals who can cross the chasm and see the beauty and relevance of the Internet both from a distance and at a close range.
They understand the Internet’s magnificence and that’s the kind of leadership we all need for the future!
Please, read Bijan Sabet’s brief Thought about yesterday post.
#entrepreneurs #startupmaster #stopsopa #wikipediablackout @jimmy_wales
[...] So, today I raise my cup (of cappuccino) to encourage all of us to try to pay closer attention to these new rules of engagement, understand that there might be a master or mistress out there setting the rules that protect us (or not) against being hurt. Tricky stuff, but it is very important for us to be vigilant because we are putting so much of ourselves into the magnificence of the Internet! [...]