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3/18/2010
Government can do it all – can’t they?
The FCC’s new goal of broadband for everyone has its advocates and its critics (good concise piece here about that), but Russ Roberts hit a home run in his wake-up-America slam of it. Roberts critiques a dripping CNN piece with the contrarian view that it’s just not the government’s job to solve all the world’s problems. Please read the whole thing – it “Says It All.”
Roberts begins by quoting the CNN piece and alternately responds:
Like a photographer without a camera, or a mechanic who doesn’t own a car, Kelli Fields is a webmaster without high-speed Internet access.
By day, the 42-year-old uses a broadband connection at work to update a university’s Web site, which she built and codes from scratch.
But when she goes home at night, the rural Oklahoman struggles with a dial-up Internet connection so slow, she does chores to pass the time while Web sites load. Her high school-age son is so fed up with the glacial pace of their Internet connection that he asks his mom to update his Facebook page from the office.
The story concludes:
She realizes that without broadband, her family is missing out on a lot.
“It really has just become a way of life, like you have to be connected all the time,” she said. “And I don’t feel that need to be connected through Facebook or news stories. I don’t feel that need to be connected all the time, but when I need [Internet access,] it would be nice to have it.”
Yes it would be nice. It’s especially nice when someone else pays for it. Government thrives by handing out free lunches. The problem is that the bills keep coming and we don’t have enough money to give out all that free food. Someone needs to make choices and tradeoffs. Kelli Fields made her choice. Maybe that tells us something about the relative urgency of the problem.
And another quick insight into this government-can-take-care-of-everything mentality. Heritage tackles this business of “social justice” in America – a concern for the poor and less advantaged.
Seek Social Justice [A Heritage Foundation 6-session DVD series] emphasizes the role of social institutions such as families, charitable groups, and businesses in promoting the common good. It also provides helpful clarity about the important role churches specifically can play in caring for those in need. And it addresses the proper but limited role of government in a just society.
All this, and the march of ObamaCare. Some days I feel completely drained by the constant, ever-dripping diminishing of self-reliance and self-responsibility, overwhelmingly frustrated and discouraged by the increasingly irresponsible attitude of Americans. Would that more of us would take it on – Russ Roberts is a great model and encouragement in this regard. Read him.
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
Don't be discouraged Jo - never give up!
As a webmaster who actually figured out a way to pay for the tools I need to get the job done, I find this pathetic example of "woe is me" absolutely pathetic.
If she isn't getting enough from the university to pay for a decent connection (much less server space & bandwidth), then it's a hobby. A want, not a need. When you want it enough - you figure out a way to pay for it ... not whining until mommy or daddy gets it for you. (Why am I thinking of Veruca Salt in the Willie Wonka movie right now?)
Uncle Sam doesn't (or at least SHOULDN'T) do diapers.
I still haven't figured out how my family is going to pay off our $120,000 portion of the national debt ... so for the time being, I'm not of a mind to go for the concept of buying someone else's internet connection FOR them, thereby increasing the debt that much more.
Oh yeah, and then there's that matter of paying for everyone else's health care.
Where exactly does this end? Or doesn't it?
Jeff Riedl (Thu Mar 18 08:49:31 2010)
I hear what you are saying about costs and the proper role of government. However, where is that line to be drawn? At one time roads were private enterprise affairs, too. What should government spend money on? Defense only? Garbage collection? Schools? Airports? Harbors? Police and fire? Rescue squads?
I am not advocating spending at a higher rate. But to say that anything "new" should never be spent on is shortsighted.
judgetrainer (Thu Mar 18 11:16:31 2010)
We are the laughing stock of the world when it comes to national policies. We spend tens of billions to keep the straits of Hormuz and other sea lanes open so the Chinese can import oil from Iran. Private and public US enterprise created the internet and built the bandwidth and the rest of the world used it to free their intellectual capital to compete with us. Smart countries realized that bandwidth is no less an important highway than a superhighway system or a railroad system. But here we sit,unable to see that the information superhighway is the equivalent of the interstate highway system. We refuse to unlock our intellectual capital in an organized fashion. We condemn our rural communities to a slow depopulation then condemn the cities where people migrate to as not representing American values. I never thought I would see the day when this country failed to invest in our infrastructure (including bandwidth) so that the average Korean, Japanese, German (and the list goes on) has better airports, better bandwidth, better bridges, tunnels, railroads etc. A nation that refuses to invest in infrastructure (including bandwidth) is a nation on a deep decline. And why don't we do it? Why do we allow the question be framed as 'it's a giveaway to lazy people" instead of "it's an interstate highway information system"? Politics and stupidity.
dave allen (Fri Mar 19 06:54:54 2010)
where has the independence our forefathers fought for gone? "Uncle" can't do it all for everyone, he just can't afford it -- Broadband is a "luxury" item, we can do with less, if we can't afford it.
Viv Huth (Thu Mar 18 16:32:38 2010)
Viv,
You are reacting with passion and not facts. You may think broadband is a luxury probably because you do not depend on broadband to survive economically as I do. Over 65% of job growth is from small businesses and all businesses need broadband access . Get off that 'forefathers' nonsense. It was our forefathers who built a postal system and the Erie Canal and vastly subsidized the intercontinental railroad and other railroads in order to improve transportation and communication. The fact that you cannot see this new technology means you are blind to the changes in the way the world works. Go ahead drive home on your publicly financed interstate but don't throw around the forefather nonsense to hold this country back from the absolutely necessary broadband access it needs. I suggest you do some research on broadband.
dave allen (Fri Mar 19 08:16:38 2010)
Viv, Your "luxury" item statement reflects your personal opinion and not what the case is for tens of millions of Americans who cannot compete economically or educationally without broadband. Your statement about the Founding fathers is simplistic and inaccurate. The founding fathers were around when we built the Erie Canal, established the post Office and began the the highly subsidized expansion of the railroads. They and the succeeding generations understood what it meant for the country to have cutting edge technology subsidized by the government so that it reached the most people the quickest way.(in its day). I suppose you drive on interstates occasionally, welcome to the vehicle superhighway. I suggest you research the information superhighway.
dave allen (Fri Mar 19 09:53:15 2010)
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