The head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is pushing for something he calls “net neutrality” whereby the government regulates Internet use. When he does so, he is being, as so many government officials are, dishonest. There is nothing “neutral” about government interventionism. Government, when stripped of all the niceties and seen in its essence, is force. Government consists of making people do things that they would not otherwise choose to do under the threat of taking their property and/or freedom if they do not. Any good that it does, it does by first using force. Any bad it does, it does through force. The very definition of government is “that institution which claims a monopoly use on force over a givengeographic area.”
That’s why it’s absurd to describe government intervention in the internet as “net neutrality.” There is nothing neutral about government. Government consists of forcing people to do things that they would not otherwise do. That’s not neutral, it’s picking sides. They will determine whose side to be “neutral” on. There isnothing neutral about the government overriding the combined free choices of individuals, known as “the free market” and imposing rules about how much of whose content should get what slice of the band width. True “net neutrality” is the free market, not a set of government regulations.
Government virtually always has a side in any dispute - its own. The last century is an almost unbroken witness of government working in its own interests to expand its own reach into our lives.
Government acts in its own interests, even when it cloaks its intentions by claiming to represent the interests of some oppressed group. At the end of the day, those in poverty will still be in poverty even after the government has acted, but government will have grown, and its officials will have become more numerous, powerful and prosperous.
Do you remember the“fairness doctrine” on AM radio? It required stations to air “both sides” of any controversial opinion. The result? AM radio would not touch any controversial issue. It had few listeners until Reagan repealed the so-called “fairness doctrine.” With government “fairness” out of the picture, AM radio thrived.
Public officials who support FCC Chairman Clyburn’s falsely named “net neutrality” intervention are your enemy. It’s that simple. The internet is the last free media.
Newspapers are in trouble, and the major ones are increasingly controlled by corporate interests that are aligned with the government. Broadcast media is worse. Not only are they also owned by global corporations which do a lot of business with the government, but they actually require a license from the federal government to operate. Why would you expect them to risk that by actually informing you of the really explosive issues, such as the Federal Reserve’s discount window scam or Obama’s eligibility for office? They may make some off hand references to cloud such issues, but mostly they go to 24/7coverage of some unstable pop-tart’s latest trip to rehab. They don’t inform, they distract people who otherwise might get informed.
You won’t see the bigcity newspapers sounding the alarm about net neutrality. The net is killing them, and they won’t shed a tear if their rival gets hobbled by government regulation. Don’t expect broadcast media to sound the alarm. It’s their regulators, the FCC, that are pushing this. Do you think they are going to hit the alarm button for you?
It’s up to We the People to defend true Net Neutrality, the free market, by defeating attempts at government intervention dishonestly named Net Neutrality.
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Mark Moore is the lead writer for an Internet blog on matters pertaining to Arkansas culture and government, Arkansas Watch, and on Tuesday nights is the host of an Internet-based radio program, Patriots on Watch He can be reached through The Times at prtnews@ nwaonline.com.
The opinions of the writer are his own, and are not necessarily those of The TIMES.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 06/16/2010