Is access to wireless internet a right that every American should expect to have? Evidently, if you live in San Francisco it is. According to SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, wireless access can be seen a basic right that should be available not just to business professionals but also lower-income citizens. "This is a civil rights issue as much as anything else."
I'm all for the free exchange of information, but since when has this been a civil rights issue. I just don't think this is what the framers had in mind when they penned the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Much of what was once considered a privilege has become a "right."
It has always been true that information goes to those who can afford it. Kings & generals of old paid runners to carry their messages. When the printing press came along, only those who could afford an education and could pay the price of the printed materials got their hands on this information. Today, information is carried through invisible electronic waves and only those who can afford it can access it. While this may not necessarily be fair, it's the way the world works. Life isn't fair, it never has been and it never will be. Jesus said, "the poor you will have with you always." That doesn't make poverty a good thing, it simply acknowledges the reality of the world.
So while Newsom's idea certainly seeks to level the playing field, he's unrealistic. After all, where are the poor to get the hardware needed to tap into the Wi-Fi system. Is Newsom going to give a computer to every man, woman, and child in SF? If he doesn't, having free access to Wi-Fi throughout the city may make for good publicity, but it does nothing to make life more fair.
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