John Perry Barlow is an American original as were the Grateful Dead. He is also no one's fool. Maybe things aren't quite as bad for the future of the Internet (for civilization?) as Barlow fears but don't discount him as a foolish old man.

As a Christian who lives by nature in the gap between serious pessimism about what-is and profound optimism about what will-be, I find it amusing - no, not amusing, provocative - that I can make common cause on many issues with those who would (do) find my biblical presuppositions and social politics repulsive.

Hey, I'm a big boy.

Why the digression? Because, to a small but real degree, I have chosen Frontier-Manila and, now, RadioUserland as a counter-cultural decision in the face of the realities Barlow fears.

Philosophy matters.

Sure, in many respects, a cigar is just a cigar and a computer is just a computer. But the Internet, while 'just' a network, is damn well something more - my words chosen with care. There is an ethical dimension to our investments in this domain, both the financial and the intellectual.

Frontier and Radio are fingers in the dike. Well, sign up my finger.

feedback:   2:03:47 PM