Because Going With the Flow is too Damn Easy

A great many bloggers are protesting today by being silent. Congress wants to censor the Internet, if you have no clue what I'm talking about. Now if Congress wants to censor content/people/blogs/websites (and I think of censor as being silent) then they win when we don't post. So I am doing the opposite- posting and tweeting as much as possible.

I love the Internet. I love its vastness. I love how I can find anything on God's green earth online. I even love how I can find some things online that shouldn't have ever been thought up. The Internet has made me think, wonder, learn, and find out more about the world. The Internet has given me friends, knowledge, a place to rant, and income. I strive to be a better person because I think my blog readers have an ideal version of me in mind and I don't want to let anyone down. I want to be glamorous, smart, funny, artistic, and admirable.

And I love the Internet best because it (almost) free. Okay, I pay for satellite usage. But I don't have to pay to read anyone's site. I used to have BellSouth and I got really annoyed at the CEO because he wanted people to pay for monthly Internet service- and then pay extra to go outside the BellSouth network. Supposedly, under his plan, you could pay more for 'unlimited' web access, or you could get a slightly less restricted plan which let you go to 'approved' sites and pages. In other words, this jackass didn't think you should be able to look at whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. And who the hell is he to determine what is appropriate for me to view? How can he pick which stores are okay for me to make purchases from? I might think Amazon is okay, but they might not be on his network because they didn't pay him enough money. And this is all about money- and control.

The Internet is what the whole world SHOULD be. We should all be allowed to express ourselves. We should be able to search for the best price. I want to read product reviews; please, tell me before I waste money if something is junk. We should be allowed to read the opinions of others. I used to read a quilting blog. I started reading it because it was about quilts, I kept on reading because the quilter wrote a lot of posts about her personal life. I felt a connection. That's what we humans do, we find others of like mind and circumstance to validate ourselves.

I realize some people have concerns. After all, the Internet can be dangerous. You don't really know who is behind the computer. But I've got news for you, the world is a dangerous place and that's why we don't talk to strangers, give out personal information, and we shouldn't be ignorant of what our children are doing online. If you're a parent, SUPERVISE. The computer is not a baby-sitter, you lazy idiot.

Vices abound on the Internet such as gambling and porn. But know what? Those things were already in existence before the 'net. Online gambling is just the latest form in addiction evolution. Even if you took all the sex off line it would still exist and people would still find it. The people who spend hours on those sites already have a problem and they will still have a problem if the computer was taken away. They weren't corrupted by technology, they were already corrupt and imbalanced. They just found an easy outlet to get their fix. If the Internet was gone they'd be at the racetrack or the whorehouse. Nobody is suddenly cured of an addiction when the source is removed because the reason that caused the addiction in the first place was NOT resolved. A sex addict needs therapy to find out why he finds it gratifying to degrade women.

The Internet is my life. I pay bill online. I shop online. I browse for books. I search for information. Some things are better in virtual form. I love jigsaw puzzles, but after I put one together I rarely want to do it again. I found a puzzle site that not only has thousands of puzzles for me to play, but I can create my own. Same thing with ezines- read the articles, no paper waste. Internet groups allow me to connect with people without having to leave my home; it's a time saver because I don't have to get dressed and burn gas driving somewhere.

I have a virtual shop on Etsy. It's in the ideal location- exactly the customers I want to reach will visit. There is no electric bill or rent. No sales display to set up. No worries about someone breaking or stealing my product. Nothing gets dirty. If someone makes a snide comment, I won't ever hear it, unlike a flea market booth where people criticize your work to your face. I don't have to be a pushy salesman. I set up my shop and go mind my business.

You might be thinking I have an extreme reaction to bills that won't be restricting all this. You are probably thinking that surely life will continue on much as it always has and we will still have our twitter and flikr. Maybe. Maybe not. What if your family vacation photos are banned because that bikini you have on is considered too revealing. What if your post is deleted because you said your husband is sexy and anything dealing with sex is not allowed. What if you want to tweet about your boss' inappropriate behavior and your ISP doesn't allow negative comments about a member or affiliate. If we have to start watching every little thing we say, how long will it be before we completely loose our voice?