Recent Advocacy Efforts

*Updated*

Read commentary I wrote during the wee hours of an all-night I pulled Saturday evening (March 28th), which relates to some of my recent advocacy efforts concerning mental health, homelessness and housing pertaining to Vermont and cross-posted on four different blogs, here (via Green Mountain Daily) as well as, here (via Beyond VSH blog), here (via Vermont Watch blog) and, here (via iBrattleboro).

*Update*: Video version posted online (via Seesmic):

*Note*: last updated on Friday, April 3, 2009 at 3:33 AM (EDT).

Crazy, Insane?

*Updated* (with the usual edits)

This morning after writing an initial version of the following and sending it out to some of those on my e-networks and, then after doing a rewrite, I submitted this version for publication as commentary to Counterpoint:

Crazy, Insane?

by Morgan W. Brown

Stigma defined:

In sociological theory, a stigma is an attribute, behavior, or reputation which is socially discrediting in a particular way: it causes an individual to be mentally classified by others in an undesirable, rejected stereotype rather than in an accepted, normal one.

via Wikipedia, here.

Although it is not really anything new when it comes to both society in general as well as within political circles at various levels and, the news media that covers such, it seems it is becoming even more common than usual for people and particularly the news media to describe or term in one manner or another and for one reason or another anyone as crazy or insane who they or others disagree with, do not understand or fail to accept.

Recent examples include the embattled Governor of Illinois who is being publicly tried within the press as well as the person he appointed to serve as U.S Senator to fill the seat of President-elect Barack Obama. However there are a multitude of examples provided on nearly a daily basis.

It also seems that these portrayals go completely unchecked. The problem is real and serious and it is just not one of being too sensitive about it or one of being politically correct either.

Not only are these stigmatizing (read: prejudicial) acts of negative labeling and public shaming damaging, they also raise issues concerning how, why and when our society labels others as crazy, insane or mentally ill anyone who they might disagree with, do not understand or fail to accept in one form or another, which is more of a political, moral or social form of oppression and exclusion in order to justify prejudice and discrimination.

These stigmatizing and prejudicial acts in fact act to neutralize and limit those so labeled, causing others to instantly question anything the person says or does, in effect marginalizing them by limiting their free speech rights as well as other rights, since through this process they are not to be taken seriously and this appears to be the aim.

As many already well know, this behavior then has an effect of how people think and act regarding those who become diagnosed with serious and persistent mental illnesses as well as how people so labeled perceive themselves. something which can also have the potential of adding to the numbers of those who attempt or actually commit suicide.

In addition, these matters should also raise issues, concerns and questions about psychiatric diagnosing, labels and labeling in general, whom gets diagnosed or labeled and who does the labeling as well as the actual basis or roots such is based or judged upon.

While there are those who are working on these and related matters, there remains a growing need to find various means to begin to push back against the free for all taking place, particularly via the media in a variety of ways.

This is something that has been concerning me for quite some time now, but the continued daily bombardments of these forms of negative labeling and public humilation with political overtones is getting too overwhelming to be allowed to go virtually unchecked and not call such into question.

Concerning what to do or how to do so, at the moment I have no suggestions to offer, yet it is my hope the means can be found.

One approach of course is to exercise what one person had once mentioned to me in such instances: i.e., something along the lines of:

Free speech that bothers us can only be countered with more free speech.

These are among some of my thoughts on the subject, what are yours?

*Note*: made several edits for the purposes of clarification and readability; last updated on Friday, January 9, 2009 at 6:54 AM (EST).

Ideas About How to Fix the Economy

*Updated* (with the usual edits)

Having revisited the Obama-Biden Transition Team Change.gov Website and, viewing the video of President-elect Barack Obama laying out key parts of the economic recovery plan (here), I followed the link for sending questions or ideas about how to fix the economy (here).

After viewing the short video featured on that page, I wrote and then submitted the following thoughts, insights, comments and ideas using the online submission form:

Re: Quickly and meaningfully work to address, both during the short-term as well as over the long-term, the dire affordable housing and homelessness crisis that has long plagued this nation over the last 30 years or so

There is a dire need to address the longstanding affordable housing and homelessness crisis within our nation.

The National Housing Trust Fund might prove to be an empty promise and not enough to address the need, not only because as I understand it the program would not begin drawing down monies until around 2010 or so, but now that the funding source was dependent on a stream from Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and those programs are in peril and have basically been taken over by the government, it remains to be seen if the funding will be there for what is required for building and growing the trust fund. Even if it were, nothing would be coming from it until at least 2012 or later on. This is not either good or soon enough to address the problems at hand, either in the short or long term.

It is crucial not to make the make[errors] of previous administrations as well as Congress and allow the problems to continue to be ignored. Nor it is enough to simply throw money at it in the manner as has been the case thus far.

What is required to address homelessness among all those in need is affordable housing. Due to the serious need and also limited resources considering everything else the government needs to address during this time of economic crisis and not being able to do everything needed, what helps most in helping people get and stay housed is affordable housing as well as offering a menu of *voluntary* supports (without string[s] attached). Homeless shelters and transitional housing are not what works best and are only poor bandaid solutions, ones which cost lots of money and only help relatively few people.

Affordable housing needs to be understood as a crucial infrastructure need within the local community, county, state and nation as important and vital as roads and bridges to the economic engine and vitality of our communities, counties, states and nation.

It is also important to keep in mind there is a dire need in rural areas as well and not just in urban areas. In fact rural areas have been seriously neglected for far too long.

Instead of going to Mars or worrying about the space station or other such boondoggles as being above the housing needs of the citizens of our nation, let us prioritize housing as a fundamental right rather than either a privilege of those who can most afford it or a limited entitlement with never enough to meet the need.

In both training and putting people back to work in building and repairing existing housing, including making such energy efficient in all regards, this will help provide both needs[ed] jobs and the housing many are in need of, including both those most in need as well as those whose incomes make it tough if not impossible to own their own or even rent an affordable residence.

With all this in mind, it might be good to also consider newer and better means of housing, including building various types of [housing] along the lines of what is termed as Katrina Cottages depending on the housing needs and family size. This sort of housing would be more energy and cost efficient, as well as take up less land, etc.

Rather than depending on the type of huge apartment or housing complexes that either the private or public housing community have long relied on, which are usually very expensive as well, housing along the lines of the Katrina Cottages in the mix would also help lend to home ownership options, particularly for those like myself who subsist on limited incomes and are section 8 housing choice voucher eligible if only there was the affordable housing to use such a voucher and could use such a voucher toward a home ownership package.

With everything else the new administration is duly focused on, please do not forget those of us in serious need of real, affordable housing opportunities sooner rather than later.

One last thought on the subject is that people who live or formerly have lived homeless are not the problem, we are part of the solution. Thus one of the things that need changing is for programs to stop doing stuff to or for us and work with us at all levels and stages, including by having those who are or formerly were living homeless to be at the table in an equal and full manner as experts as anyone else from planning to implementation whether it be at the systemic level or during the process of a person seeking help to address their needs. We often know best what works and what does not, although we are not usually use to be[ing] included in meaningful ways, except maybe merely as tokens whose opinions and input is ignored.

Thank you in advance for any consideration given to these concerns.

Sincerely,

Morgan W. Brown
Montpelier, Vermont

If you have your own questions or ideas about how to fix the economy, make sure to submit them, here or, otherwise share your vision, here or, your story, here.

For those who might wonder if it would make any difference and matter to those within the new administration who will soon be taking power, it certainly cannot hurt to try, especially while they appear to be willing to listen and learn.

In addition, it certainly will not make a difference or matter if people do not try and share their concerns, stories, questions or ideas.

It is at least a place to start from, which is better than what usually happens, since people do not typically have any chance of being asked or heard about their concerns and ideas about their own government and the building of its agenda and policies.

fyi: National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF)

*Note*: made a couple of, mostly minor, edits for the purposes of clarification and readability; posted an embedded link to an informational page regarding the National Housing Trust Fund; last updated on Sunday, January 11, 2008 at 8:09 AM [ET].

Under the Gun of Social Security Disability Review Process Again

*Updated* (with the usual edits)

*Note*: This is an updated and edited version of one I e-mailed out to my various e-mail networks earlier.

Although I tend to not always let people know much about what is going on with me or exactly how I am actually doing at times or, at least do not share all the details or depths of such, especially when I am really struggling, this year has been rather tough for me in one manner and degree or another and, during such experiences, finds me barely coping as a result.

When I checked my mail yesterday there was a disability review information and form packet mailed by the Montpelier office of the Social Security Administration.

This is my third review, the last being in 1998/1999, which was one I barely survived after initially having my social security benefits terminated through what was a flawed process on the part of the state disability review office, but then who finally revisited, reviewed and eventually reversed their decision once concerns and protest as well as additional authoritative information was brought to their attention on my behalf by others.

For more on the subject, read a reprint of: The Journey of dis-Ability: Reflections on How Income Can Benefit Outcomes (via The Independent; February-March 1999 Edition; Volume 8, Number 1; posted Friday, January 17, 2003).

It has been in the back of my mind for a while now that I could be the subject of another review at some point, especially given some of the more higher profile activities and blogging I have engaged in of late (e.g., the Vermont Watch blog), which could have come to the attention of certain persons and possibly causing some to question whether I was still qualified for these income and related benefits or not.

That said, I am not at all suggesting that this is indeed the case, only that I knew when I started my political blog there existed a greater potential of leading to such an end. That said as well, I also knew a review could happen even if I did not engage in such activities and blogging, so I had nothing to lose either way or so it seemed. Thus, whatever the case might actually be, it is a moot point since I have no control over it one way or another and have to focus on what is in front of me instead.

While I have about two weeks to fill out the forms included within the packet, I am already feeling fairly stressed about it (including experiencing attacks of both deep panic as well as severe anxiety).

At least in part, this is because when I read some of the enclosed information and questions on the forms, as well as the medicalized context within how they are presented, it would — and, also based on previous experience from the last time around — seem to spell major gloom and doom.

However, while I do believe that how this process will be done will be different this time around, it could easily still result in a decision to terminate my benefits and, if this worse case scenario were to indeed happen, then leaving me forced to have to go through an appeal process and not being able to endure coping with it.

Just because an individual has rights to appeal, does not always mean they survive the process either very well or at all, even if they could be successful if they were able to persist, something that can be very difficult to do even when a person has the help of others. I know, been there, done that both when I went through the lengthy process of initially getting the benefits as well as the last review.

The very thorough review in between those two was rather easier on comparison, yet no less stressful and troubling for me; in fact it was the first review in 1993 or 1994 or so that caused a lot of upheaval to the point that afterwards I moved out of the housing (Summer 1996) I had been in since the Spring of 1992 due at least in part to the stress of the experience as well as other factors leading to my no longer feeling safe and comfortable within those quarters.

All to state that if I either appear to be under more duress or become less engaged than has usually been the case of late, this could help to explain at least part of why.

It seems like this will be yet another chapter in the ongoing saga that shall be filed under the Journey of dis-Ability, with mine being just one version of journeys faced differently in one manner and degree or another by many others as well of course.

*Note*: made several edits for the purpose of clarification and readability; last updated on Monday, December 1, 2008 at 4:08 AM (ET).

Google’s Knol Project

For if or when you or someone else you know are thinking about penning future articles on a given subject one is knowledgeable about and would like a means to share them online, a new tool to consider using for such comes by way of Google by the name of Knol, which according to Google stands for a unit of knowledge.

Check out my Knol profile page, here. The knols I have contributed thus far can be found by scrolling down to near the bottom of the sidebar column of the right-hand side of the page.

Homeless Vermonters deserve respect

Commentary by yours truly concerning people living homeless published within the Wednesday, June 25, 2008 edition of the Times Argus, here.

Tooling the Web: Using the Internet to get there from here

Yet once again, while this column of mine is of course rather old stock and, as I had not made it available on my blog(s) before, since I am the author of the column I have taken the liberty to reprint it below.

This particular column was the third of a three-part exclusive series published back in 2000 by The Independent.

The Independent
December 2000: Winter Edition
(Vol. 9, No. 5; Pages 19 & 20)

Tooling the Web

Using the Internet to get there from here

By Morgan W. Brown

The world of computers and the Internet can seem intimidating, mysterious or abstract at times. Having access to the use of computers and the Internet does not ensure a person the ability or skills to easily navigate this electronic universe.

The Internet is more akin to being in a maze where one can become confused, disoriented, frustrated, worn down and lost rather than being a means to acquire information, find oneself or connect with others. Put simply, no one can lay blame on another for not daring to venture online by him or herself.

While there are some places which provide what could be termed driver education classes for getting around on the information superhighway, there are those who fare better with a one-on-one or personally tailored approach. However, unless one has the money and the resources to afford it, such coaching is hard to find.

Many of the struggles some people face could be a thing of the past if the obstacles they encounter were removed, or the circumstances caused by them seriously ameliorated. These barriers deprive access to valuable resources and opportunities which otherwise prove essential to improving the quality of life for individuals, families and communities.

If we expect people to move into or advance within the workforce, or to volunteer for non-profit efforts, they must be provided with the education, training, resources, tools, reasonable accommodations and opportunities that address their individual needs. This is the encouragement, support and empowerment that will be necessary if we mean to assist them to continue in the direction of their hopes which they have for the work, career or volunteer positions they are seeking.

If people are expected to be able to focus, learn and then apply what they have learned, they must be provided with an environment that is conducive and supportive of these goals. Among other things, this means not burdening them with lots of hoops to jump through, piles of paperwork or financial debt. This would only serve to distract, impede or dissuade them.

To paraphrase an old saying: It makes more sense and, is much more compassionate, to show people how to fish than it is to hand them a bowl of fish chowder at a soup kitchen from time to time.

One possible way for us to get there from here would be to establish free accredited programs to educate, train and certify people in various hands-on computer, programming and internet skills in small class settings.

For anyone who wanted to learn new skills or to refresh former skills, a person would first be thoroughly taught in the basics at a level and pace that is appropriate for them. When ready, they could be instructed in more advanced skills. Key components of their education would include being trained in relationship building, and how to pass along their skills respectfully and effectively.

When each person successfully completed certain phases of their training, they would perform community service during which they tutor others one-on-one (at no cost to the person being tutored) as part of their class requirement. This could be done under various forms of supervision.

After their training was over, there would also be a final period in which they perform a lengthy supervised internship. The internship would include providing in-depth, one-on-one tutoring, mentoring and training to others in essential computer and internet basics as well as sharing related knowledge, information and experience that may prove useful; all free of charge. There should not be any requirements imposed on anyone tutored by interns however, other than having each person tutored complete a brief evaluation survey at the end of the session.

The same basic standards and support would apply regardless of the skill level and training each student may engage in or complete. Once the entire training process was accomplished successfully — including having all training and intern requirements fulfilled — they would be awarded the appropriate certification(s).

These training programs should avoid an overly bureaucratic set up which would drain resources, energy and time away from students or those providing program administration, training and supervision.

Such programs could be funded and administered by a collaborative partnership between federal, state and local government, corporate and business sectors, educational institutions, libraries and other public and private entities serving the public interest.

In addition, during their training, internship and in the transition to employment, if a person is in need of support, assistance and accommodations with transportation, housing and other needs or benefits, they should be provided. This could be done through a voucher system or existing programs that meet any of these needs. But, they should be accessible via one-stop shopping.

If we made these investments in people eager to join, rejoin or move into the workforce, the dividends would be of immense benefit to our communities in ways we now can only imagine.

Besides creating a broader and deeper pool of skilled workers, these programs would provide richer and wider opportunity by giving greater access to a wider range of people. These citizens would be tutored in new skills or improve rusty skills. The new relationships between the people these programs would bring together are another benefit.

The intention and purpose of these concepts, and of this proposal, is to foster a free community-wide apprenticeship and mentoring model that can be used to help bridge several gaps across Vermont and elsewhere.

This approach is envisioned to bring people together and build good will, understanding, tolerance and community spirit, as well as address mutual needs and goals within our diverse communities. People of all ages would have a community resource to acquire skills for tooling the Web when, and if, it is needed.

It would enable more individuals, families and communities to move toward, and share in, an economic progress that today is only dreamed about. If we all work together and freely offer support to each other — especially with those most in need — we can get there from here.

Morgan W. Brown is a struggling, but “serious & persistent” writer, poet and activist residing in the Montpelier area. His life experience includes that of psychiatric incarceration, shock treatment (ECT) and being homeless.

The Independent is a Vermont publication for seniors and people with disabilities.

For permission to reprint the above article as is, please e-mail the editor of The Independent with your request to Deborah Lisi-Baker at deborah [at] vcil [dot] org and, in addition, cc your message to the author, Morgan W. Brown, at: morganbrown [at] gmail [dot] com

Read parts one and two of this particular three-part exclusive series:

• Net-Working: Revolutionizing What it Means to be Connected [The Independent; Summer 2000 Edition (Vol 9, no. 3)]
• Wandering the Internet: Turning online experiences into journeys of personal discovery [The Independent; October 2000 Edition (Vol 9, no. 4)]

Wandering the Internet

Once again, while this column of mine is also rather old stock and, as I had not made it available on my blog(s) before, since I am the author of the column I have taken the liberty to reprint it below.

This particular column was the second of a three-part exclusive series published back in 2000 by The Independent.

The Independent
October 2000 Edition
(Vol 9, no. 4)

Wandering the Internet

Turning online experiences into journeys of personal discovery

by Morgan W. Brown

People often ask me how I manage to come across the various information I do, whether acquired online or elsewhere. The information in question comes my way by being mindful (i.e., fully aware) while either wandering the Internet or the real world. It also comes from the many connections and relationships I have developed with others. These personal contacts help to provide greater opportunity to engage in support, networking and the mutual sharing of information.

At first, I reluctantly used the Internet. All I knew about the Internet came from reading newspapers, watching the TV, listening to the radio, or by word of mouth. None of it excited me or made me rushing to go online. Computers and the Internet intimidated me, made me leery of using them. I also did not have a computer with online access and was not sure how well it would work for me to use a public computer connected to the Internet.

That changed when Butch Ponzio told me about a free, web-based e-mail service to use if I could get online. A public access online computer had recently been made available at the library in a small rural village in the Northeast Kingdom where I was living, and in which I felt extremely isolated. Finally, inside that cozy red brick building I dared sit down and give it a try. Some children and librarians offered help, showing me some of the Internet basics. I never could have done it without their kind and generous assistance, and things have not been the same for me since. Internet access has been tremendously empowering.

Ever since those first days three and half years ago when I sat in front of the public access computer I have been wandering the Web. My only online access comes either from public access I find at libraries, colleges and the like or at the homes or offices of friends and allies. This has given me access to web-based e-mail, the ability to build my own web pages via web-based services that offer space freely, and the ability to search the Internet to my heart’s desire (or until I have to get off the computer).

I have found that what usually works best for me in my life experiences in the real world is also what often times works best for me in the virtual world.

What I mean is this: ideally, and generally, speaking I go in or out a door and down one path and then another, and so on, in the real world. These doors or paths are sometimes literal, but are also figurative and come to represent opportunities, crises, experiences or moments in time. Yet it is how I do so that is important; it makes all the difference between whether I find what may be needed or the quality of what is found. It depends on the level of awareness I allow myself to operate from and what I free myself to be open to. When I go in or out a door or down any path and am being mindful, I am experience and take in as much as I can at any one moment. When I am in any one place I do not concern myself with where I have been before or where I will be next. Neither do I concern myself with analyzing, processing or otherwise understanding what it is I am experiencing, encountering or observing at that time. Those thought processes wait for another time and a completely different context after freeing the mind of what I think I know. This mindfulness better affords me to be more open to learning what each moment and experience has to offer.

None of this is a state of mind or a philosophy to me. It is a way of being, a way of life. It is simply Being. It is meeting life on its terms and living it naturally and fully as it comes and flows. I merely take of these moments and experiences — and then later make from them — what I need and can soak up as I wade through and swim its currents and depths. What I end up doing is exploring and experiencing my own currents and depths more than anything else I may believe that I am exploring and experiencing. These are journeys of personal discovery. Each person must find their own way of being and way to undertake their journey; there is no one way to exist or experience life.

I engage in mindfulness with whatever I am doing. I could be writing, out for a walk, enjoying the company of a friend or a stranger or online. In this way I am most open to exploring every opportunity and experience around me that may be happens and unfoldings moment to moment.

This involves a great amount of mindful wandering or journeying. As these terms would imply, this approach means going beyond established boundaries and expectations within and outside of ourselves that often limit and constrict what could be a more peaceful coexistence, a broader life experience and a deeper spiritual fulfillment with oneself, others and all life. There is nothing aimless or selfish about this. It demands great effort and much personal sacrifice. The reasons or excuses for not doing so are never about having too little time for it. Rather it is about making and taking the time by making it a priority and then exercising the will by doing it mindfully.

On the question of whether to use the Internet for personal use, activism and advocacy: I say, go for it. Wander and explore your own inner currents and depths; plumb the opportunities and experiences available for personal discovery found in the realm of cyberspace by going online any chance you can get.

If you need assistance as I first did, there are people and programs available to help with Internet and computer tutoring. For information on where to locate these people or programs in your area, contact either the Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL), your local senior center or area Council on Aging.

For those living in or near Chittenden County, there is CyberSkills Vermont, which provides classes in Internet and computer skills. They also have an Online Public Access Center for those who have little or no online access of their own. They are located at the Old North End Community Technology Center, 279 North Winooski Avenue, in Burlington. For additional information call 1-802-860-4057 x 20 or visit their website at http://www.cyberskillsvt.org/

* “CyberSkills provides a model and process for community and economic development that moves beyond the issues of access and universal service.”

Funded in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and earned income, the Old North End Community Technology Center — CyberSkills Vermont — works with individuals, organizations and communities who want to participate in the global digital economy. More than a training organization, CyberSkills Vermont supports its neighbors and clients to build their capacity and plan their future. They also provide a working model for building the capacity of rural and urban communities to compete in the Information Economy. CyberSkills is based on the principal of “People First, Technology Second” and a process that includes: auditing, awareness raising, access, training, content production, partnerships and planning.

For more information about CyberSkills for rural communities, go to the following website, CyberSkills for Rural Communities, at http://crs.uvm.edu/cyberskills/

“The mission of CyberSkills for Rural Communities is to establish enterprises for rural regeneration in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom and Windham and Windsor counties.”

Morgan W. Brown is a struggling, but “serious & persistent” writer, poet and activist residing in the Montpelier area. His life experience includes that of psychiatric incarceration, shock treatment (ECT) and also being homeless.

The Independent is a Vermont publication for seniors and people with disabilities.

For permission to reprint the above article as is, please e-mail the editor of The Independent with your request to Deborah Lisi-Baker at deborah [at] vcil [dot] org and, in addition, cc your message to the author, Morgan W. Brown, at: morganbrown [at] gmail [dot] com

Read parts one and three of this particular three-part exclusive series:

• Net-Working: Revolutionizing What it Means to be Connected [The Independent; Summer 2000 Edition (Vol 9, no. 3)]
• Tooling the Web: Using the Internet to get there from here [The Independent; December 2000: Winter Edition (Vol. 9, No. 5; Pages 19 & 20)]

In addition, if you have not already done so either previously or of late, make sure to check out the Website of Butch Ponzio and his family: Sundog Stories.

Net-Working: Revolutionizing What it Means to be Connected

While it is rather old stock of mine and, as I had not made it available on my blog(s) before, since I am the author of the column I have taken the liberty to reprint it below.

This particular column was the first of a three-part exclusive series published back in 2000 by The Independent.

The Independent
Summer 2000 Edition
(Vol 9, no. 3)

Net-Working: Revolutionizing What it Means to be Connected

by Morgan W. Brown

Information is power. This worn out statement has long troubled me. In my opinion, it and the attitudes behind it are, at best, oversimplified. Such statements and attitudes reinforce assumptions and myths people have of themselves, others and equal opportunity.

These assumptions are part of the belief system central to our so-called free and open society. These assumptions make it easy and convenient to be indifferent to, as well as belittle, those people whose life experiences are derived out of realities that come from the festering oppression, social injustice and inequalities active on many levels in our society and the world around us.

Information is among the commodities traded, bought and sold as part of a very competitive, intensely political and heavily controlled marketplace. As such, information becomes manipulated in ways large and small. It has long been this way, and has happened for so long and is so widely accepted and commonplace that many do not even take notice, let alone take action, concerning the cultural dilemma(s) this poses and the schism(s) created and fostered. Information, like much else in society, is governed and guarded by those whose power actually comes and is rewarded by doing so.

While information may at times result in the obtaining, retaining and enforcing of power, sharing information gives it focus, direction, meaning and purpose. This is true because the consequences that can grow from information and power depend on exactly how we choose to use, define and share it. These actions define, and are defined by, what and whom it is we value as well as what and whom we do not value.

These are some of the basic premises, principles and values upon which the Internet was founded. If there is hope for the Internet to truly benefit the public good it must continue to foster these principles and values in a very real way. That will only take place, of course, by and with those who are not driven by self-interest, a secret agenda or a profit motive.

How the internet actually gets used, of course, remains to be seen and, sadly, is up for grabs. Enter each of us. In certain ways, the Internet is like any other tool used to access and share information and knowledge: we communicate and connect with others.

What we do and how we do it, or who we allow to do it for us, will define the future process and evolution of the internet, and of our society. These decisions and actions could possibly topple and create new paradigms, power structures, institutions and regimes. Likewise, it could reinforce the established ones.

Certain prior technological advances have changed entire societies and cultures within only a few generations. Personal fortunes, empires and even nations were built and came into prominence while others crumbled and waned over time. Sadly, much of this was done at the peril of others. The same holds true today.

The Internet’s introduction to and evolution within the public domain has brought about numerous opportunities compared to its technological predecessors. This is because the means to acquire, disseminate and transfer information and wealth, to communicate and network, is virtually instantaneous and unlimited. As such, information and the means to communicate promises to be more widely accessible to a greater number of people than previously possible. This, along with other factors, will continue to spur diverse and intensely creative change never before imagined.

The Internet’s ability to transform society is constricted only by the limits we place on it, the limits we place on ourselves or the limits we allow others to place on it or ourselves.

However, the Internet is not simply an electronic or virtual super highway. It isn’t the linear object or experience that some would define it or resign it to be. That said, like any other technology before it, the Internet remains a human construct – a tool by which we transmit the best and worst of our human experience. It can be used in a manner that is either constructive or destructive, positive or negative, for good or for bad: To inspire, encourage and support as well as devalue, deflate or oppress.

The possibilities and opportunities that grow from our use of the Internet will be in direct relation to whatever we bring and make from them. As with any mass-consumed technology, much of how the Internet evolves will depend on how available and accessible it is to everyone. With truly open access the Internet can become more than a promised ideal, or hope. It can become a reality. But, this requires some faith.

If we act on that faith, we have the power to use the Internet to transform our lives into a promising and hopeful reality, and one that meets our real and basic mutual needs. This power, of course, resides within each of us, and is not unique to the Internet.

The power struggle over the Internet, like many struggles, is essentially about what it is that makes us human. It comes down to whether we embrace and value each other – and all life – on a mutual and equal, diverse, humanistic and spiritual level. If not, we will continue our destructive path of exploitation, devaluation and dehumanization – a path upon which people are regarded as subjects to be controlled with information about them managed and traded by others. People in this scenario are worked to death so they can be loyal and captive consumers.

Internet or not, we must learn from the horrible lessons of our past as well as those of the present. If we do not, we will continue to endure life under the weight of an enforced superficial realm too often accepted at face value and surrendered to as being our fate.

Morgan W. Brown is a struggling, but “serious & persistent” writer, poet and activist residing in the Montpelier area. His life experience includes that of psychiatric incarceration, shock treatment (ECT), and also being homeless.

The Independent is a Vermont publication for seniors and people with disabilities.

For permission to reprint the above article as is, please e-mail the editor of The Independent with your request to Deborah Lisi-Baker at deborah [at] vcil [dot] org and, in addition, cc your message to the author, Morgan W. Brown, at: morganbrown [at] gmail [dot] com

Of course this particular column of mine was written well before I (and, for that fact, most of the general public) knew or heard anything about blogs, blogging, bloggers and the blogosphere.

In reading this column, there should be little, if any, doubt as to the various reasons and motivations behind why I have taken to blogs and blogging as has been the case thus far.

*Update*

Read parts two and three of this particular three-part exclusive series:

• Wandering the Internet: Turning online experiences into journeys of personal discovery [The Independent; October 2000 Edition (Vol 9, no. 4)]
• Tooling the Web: Using the Internet to get there from here [The Independent; December 2000: Winter Edition (Vol. 9, No. 5; Pages 19 & 20)]