I remember ,in the early part of the 1990’s , a friend at Georgia Tech, Harris Johnson who ran the extension service program in Carrollton for the Georgia Tech Research Institute, introduced me wo a professor at West Georgia College, maybe by the West Georgia State University.
We all three got together and Harris, Terry and I sat down at6 a computer and connected to the World Wide Web. For those too young to know, that is the source of the WWW that appears often before addresses.
It was fascinating. Terry offered me limited access through his account and I explored the mostly text wealth of information, reading science , history across a wide range of topice.
It was then that I coined the phrase “Intellectual browsing”
As the web developed, I was amazed at the generosity of people who shared their expertise in such diverse things as Quantum Mechanics and down to restoring a 1958 Glaspar Seafare sedan, an early fiberglass boat that I happen to own.
This individual generosity was soo joined by what we thought was “corporate generosity,” Companies presented their products with a wealth of information on the specifications and uses. We knew why, they wanted to sell their product and were helping us see the value.
Also came Google, gmail, facebook, twitter and the whole host of “free services” Email, search, navigation GPS, calendars, storage, and all free.
Or so we thought.
We didn’t know that it was a trap. We walked in, amazed that there was such generosity.
Being sentient beings in a fading free society, we are not like the poor mouse who, hungry, is attracted to the smell of the cheese but lacks the understanding that his wariness of the offered food contains a deadly threat.
We should have known the power we were giving them.
We knew there was some loss of privacy, but in America, we thought we had so many protections in our wonderful Constitution, that we felt safe, and after all who would go to the trouble of looking at little old me. They would be bored and probably disinterested.
That is no longer the case as hundreds of brown shirt lookalikes scour the web to find a way to hurt those who disagree with them.
I often tried to make the point that disagreement I might have with anyone, was not hate directed toward them. What I failed to realize was that those I disagreed with hated me for that disagreement.
Even as I first began to realize that, I still, deep down inside, felt protected by the Bill of Rights. I felt protected by America
I was wrong.
Months ago, I began to warn of the probability of persecution, particularly. I thought it further away, but it is on us today.
I have often wondered about what could be considered “last thoughts”:
Those in an airplane going down, or a building at the World Trade Center. I know what is reported to be the last words or word on cockpit recorders. We have some last messages from the WTC victims and they are chilling and spoke of love and resignation. The flight 93 heroes knew their chances but fought back with all they had.
I also often think about a concept that connects to that concept of last moments. The “Day after the day it became too late.”
At what point do we realize that the options that were available to us day before yesterday are no longer there for us. We look up and see the bar of the trap, slowly descending toward our necks, or we see the probability of the packing of the Supreme Court, or the creation of new states, not for the purpose of them joining a more perfect union, but with the purpose of forever destroying that which so many have lost life and limb to achieve.
America and its hope for better future for all who are here.
We are at a time of great danger, and it CANNOT be too late.