Schools Hate Internet Freedom

As a lifelong resident of the Detroit area it saddens me that 70% of students within the Detroit city limits lack any Internet connection at home, this also most likely means that they lack Technology skills that are NECESSARY for them to exist in the current economic climate. I have no desire to go into the clusterfuck that is every aspect of Detroit Public Schools, but there is a way to disrupt that system that is leaving so many kids disadvantaged, and that is Broadband Internet Access for all at home. The sooner the well-meaning citizens figure out that teachers, administrators and government officials either really don't care or are burned out about educating the youth, the sooner they can be more open minded to how Internet access can help to change this.

To think that the public education sector and many private sectors don't have a hand in trying to block things like this from happening would be incredibly naive. School districts continue to pay MILLIONS of dollars yearly to the fucking evil Textbook industry for information that can easily be found on the Internet for free, Telecom companies continue to charge ridiculously unfair prices for Internet access (And why isn't Internet Access considered a Public Utility?), Content Control Software developers make MILLIONS on school district contracts to provide an extremely easy to bypass content blocking system and these are only a few of the obvious money pits that Public Schooling ultimately gets involved in. The cause of this is lack of education, community apathy, out of touch administrators, resistance to change and greedy corporate scumbags.

One of my favorite things about my University experience was hearing almost every professor explain how inaccurate and bad Wikipedia is for the educational process, at the time I knew they were speaking out of ignorance and history has proven just how right I was. I'm not sure if they felt this way because they were old and didn't bother trying to understand how and why it works or if they felt threatened as educators by a free online service aimed at providing quick and easy information on anything. The accuracy of Wikipedia has been seen as equal or superior to the Academic Superpower of Encyclopedia Britannica, while the methods used to measure this are hardly enough to state this definitively, it's clear it is more accurate than not because many in the Wiki community take it very seriously. I consider Wikipedia to be one of humankind's greatest creations, yet many of those in Education still give the simplistic argument of "can't anyone edit it?" not realizing that is the entire reason it works.

I'm a frequent Wikipedia editor and contributor as I believe that currently information and knowledge only have a perceived economic value and no actual economic value. Educating oneself used to require attending a school or University, purchasing expensive journals owned and sold through said Universities, purchasing books or going to a Library with a finite information, but this is clearly no longer the case. Don't get it twisted, the classroom setting works for many many people and shouldn't be abandoned, but the fact that smarter and cheaper supplements to this educational format aren't used is foolish and creating many many problems.

My previous example of the continued use of textbooks to provide knowledge is emblematic of the apathetic, self-serving attitude of those in charge of education in America. They are out of date, contain archaic and hard to understand explanations of relatively simple concepts and often do not provide any original thought or material.

When I tell people I learned significantly more from the Internet than I ever did at any point in school, I often get weird confused looks that someone can learn something in a different way than they did. Recently I was researching Sierpinski Triangles and I came across an amazing page that explains a very complicated subject in a contemporary and interesting way. Note the description of a mathematical format as the "straight ballin'" form, something that would appall traditional Academia but actually makes the subject more relatable to the average reader. The topic is not the easiest to understand without a bit of background in mathematics, but the fact this incredible information would never be presented in a classroom setting is the problem.

All of this comes down to one thing, and it's one of the ideals I hold most valuable, that is it is the Earth's benefit for the Internet to remain 100% free of censorship, regulation and profit.

Edward Snowden made a claim that "the Internet is the most important invention in all of human history" and explained how much it meant to him and changed his life, I share the same views. The Internet expanded my mind and made me think about things in new ways I never would have otherwise. Living in America is weird because those in charge are so out of touch with the opinions of those they govern, especially those of another generation. The institutional power structure of these groups are constantly threatened by the openness of a Free Internet so it is in their best interest to stifle that when at all possible.

Remember how many people demonized Snowden and used his age as a reason, there is a war on youth and the Internet and it's up to the outspoken to convince those who aren't a part of this culture that the value is too important to give up on.

Bill Gates' Attitude Toward Charity and Broadband Access Is Misguided....And It's Shared by Millions of Americans (Part 1)

Last year Bill Gates made comments regarding how providing free/improved broadband Internet access to impoverished nations is not as important as providing treatment for the Malaria epidemic. If you think about this only in the short term it is 100% correct, but if you move further away from the picture it becomes drastically altered, and instead should be seen like a band-aid trying to heal a gaping bleeding wound. It's shocking that someone as bright and caring as Bill Gates doesn't see the bigger picture here.

America has this weird love affair with charity that sometimes results in creating bigger problems in the long run because those donating and administrating the charity believe they are doing good while missing the same bigger picture that Bill Gates fails to see. Think about every time a person, a company or a corporation donates mass amounts of clothing to third world countries. The result for the person donating is a good feeling in how they are helping others and giving a shirt to a poor kid who cannot afford one. What no one asks or thinks about is what is the actual result of this action? The result is that these countries have no economic incentive to create any sort of textile market or industry, which is one less potential job for the poor.

The previous example is similar to the statement Bill Gates made, which upon hearing makes complete sense but upon further examination is troublesome. Don't get me wrong, providing them with Malaria vaccines is a valid charity and definitely worthy of donations and support, but it doesn't fix the problem, only individual cases. Providing free or low-cost Internet access opens doors to these communities that could provide them with information on how to reduce the spread of malaria or how to create the vaccines used.

I truly believe that in the past 15 years 1st World nations have had something of an educational boom because of technology, and although the system of sharing information is severely neutered because of obsolete and evil patent laws, the ease of access to information is still exponentially greater than it ever has been.

Contrary to popular belief by the conservative, old and racist communities, Third-World nations full of "dark" people contain just as many brilliant and talented people as America, China, Japan or any other country, the only difference is their impact is greatly diminished due to lacking access to information. Enabling cheap or low-cost access to this information is the greatest charity we could provide to these countries and could result in many problems being solved by those within their own community.

The suggestion I have to those who still want to help their fellow man is to concentrate on helping the less fortunate within your own country and more specifically in your own community. In my job I assist many low-income students who lack Internet access at home, requiring them to come to campus or a library (often using slow/unreliable public transportation) in order to do simple things like applying for a job, paying a bill, registering for a class or typing a paper.

My Male Manifesto

Whenever I read articles like this or this about the "downfall of men" it makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Being a man in 2012 is sort of shitty, but saying that apparently isn't politically correct so any time someone starts to say this, they are immediately shut down. Don't get me wrong, men have had it great for centuries upon centuries, so maybe it's the inevitable Darwinian shift among our species.

I believe the starting point for this "issue" is the massive feminization of curriculum in schools that has occurred in the past 20 to 30 years. As a young child I remember having no male teachers, I did not have my first one until 7th grade which is sort of shocking. Now the demographics of teaching have always skewed female but the curriculum shift went from a focus on the basics to a focus on making learning "fun" rather than strictly teaching necessary material. This works for some people, but for others like myself it put me off from learning for almost a DECADE. Rather than solving math problems, answering questions and writing essays, we were cutting and pasting pictures off magazines onto poster board and conducted hour long interactive exercises to confirm a simple easy-to-understand point. Either way the moment when learning division became learning a complicated song instead of learning the meaning behind it, that is the second we failed. There is also the fact that this leads to consensus building when problem solving is necessary, sometimes this works but often times it leads to wasted time and effort while providing those with stupid arguments validity.

The other main issue about education is the reduction of content taught that would actively appeal to guys. Oftentimes in the classroom opinions of students are treated equally as facts to encourage openness and respect while having a discussion. This usually results in a long, arduous and unnecessary discussion that bores many of the male students in the classroom who are thinking "just move the fuck along". If this happens once in a while it's fine because that is how the world works, but when it happens daily in multiple classes it is VERY easy to see why young male students get burned out so easily.

It didn't take me long to figure out to pass many classes taught by women, all that was necessary was thoughtfulness and being open minded. Needless to say I always fared much better with male teachers who did not care about anything but the knowledge retained. Is one more right than the other? Not really, but there are advantages to each that each gender possesses, unfortunately the male aspects are disappearing.

There is more than education to this; and the declining marriage rates which are seen as a problem to many are common sense to most men my age. Why would we want to get married and have kids? What benefit is there when the current system is set up for us to fail no matter which way we go? Divorce laws, child support laws and sexual harassment laws (while all good meaning and necessary at the time) have shown us plenty of examples of why marriage is a poor investment in our future. I would much rather be alone for the rest of my life being responsible only for myself.

Another issue worth mentioning is the absolute confusion that exists when it comes to hitting on a girl, what was once something cut and dry is now a clusterfuck. Men are so concerned with not offending, not seeming creepy and not getting in trouble for harassment that we choose to instead say nothing to protect ourselves.

Throughout my life I have been told by virtually everyone to "follow my dreams", "find your passion" and "be yourself" which I have come to realize over time is not only absolute bullshit, but it is in fact harmful to the future of young people. Whenever I make TRUTHFUL statements contradicting these, immediately I am negative and a pessimist (something that people apparently don't like being around). This leads to someone getting older and not having a passion, having unrealistic dreams or not knowing how to communicate properly in society. They end up lost and apathetic, questioning the meaning behind everything they were taught seeking truth. It would be interesting to see the happiness level of the "successful" women that are always mentioned in the same breath with modern men, because I would venture to say they are just as unhappy and disillusioned as the male gender. The main difference is that the system is currently set up for women to succeed.

Women and men are different, so it's time we stop comparing them constantly and instead clearly identify each gender's strengths and weaknesses (something that has already been done) to ensure proper development without blatant focus on one.