I'm a Ph.D. student in the School of Education at the University of California, Davis. My emphasis is in post-secondary writing instruction. I have been teaching young people how to critically engage in discourse for over a decade now, and during that time the role of an open internet has become crucial. This is why I oppose SOPA. There are a lot of talking points on both sides of this debate, but I'd like to present you with another point of view by way of comparing my experience as a student to the experience of students today.
When I was an undergraduate, I had to go to the library to do research for a paper. It was a useful exercise, but one problem I didn't have to worry about very often was the authority of the sources I found in the library. I didn't have to hone my critical sensibility because I knew scholars, editors, and librarians had done the sifting and winnowing for me.
Today's students don't live in that world. Thanks to the internet, students have access to much more information than they once had, but the filters that keep information out of the libraries are less important to the research process. Some view this as a problem because students have access to bad information, but that has not been a problem in my experience. The students I work with understand that they need to become the filters - they need to critically evaluate the information that comes their way.
This is a wonderful skill for citizens in a democracy, and it is an open internet that fosters the development of such a skill. Tomorrow's information and media consumer has to become a more critical consumer, a more discerning consumer. They have to be critical because they know that supporters of SOPA are right about one thing: bad things happen on the internet. There are thieves and liars out there, just like there are on Main and Wall Street. But we don't need a government gatekeeper that would shut down avenues of information. Imagine if Wall Street reform was as harsh as SOPA aims to be. What we need is smarter consumers, and the open internet is producing such a consumer.
SOPA's values have unintentional consequences that are undemocratic. Please work to insure the bill does not pass into law.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Hogan Hayes
3 comments:
Dear Hogan, I am moved by your polite but assertive style. One thing we've got definitel wrong here in Hungary (and maybe in some other parts of the world, too) is that we cannot debate in a civilized way, we cannot criticize with respect towards the other person. The reason Ilike the way you write is that it shows respect, calmness and ... what's the word for it... alázat (excuse my Hungrinan, I'm sitting in a McDonalds, waiting for someone, maybe you can ask your wife to translate). Anyway, you're cool, and what you say is cool, too. Icannot agree more with the content of your post, by the way. The yungsters of today don't needcontrol from above. What they need is loving and caring parents and inspiring educators who provide a strong basis for their moral and emotional development, and love, above all. That's it. Not SOPA. Merry Christmas from Budapest!
Poignant letter. Thank you for putting it out there.
Thanks for your information!
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