Strange how people’s needs change over time. Just a couple centuries ago, food, water and shelter were the only basic necessities for modern life.Then electricity became necessary. It allowed us to occupy in harsh climates otherwise unbearable. Sixty years ago living without electricity was unthinkable.
Then internet became necessary. It allowed us to occupy an unlimited space heretofore unimaginable. For techies, ten years ago living without internet was unthinkable.
When access to basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter were monopolized, the people organized to prevent it through legislation. Now, many consider computer and internet access to be a basic need, and are organizing to prevent its monopolization through the free availability of open-source applications and operating systems.
The advent of the internet era provided people with the potential for a new power structure and dynamic. Horizontal hierarchy: an egalitarian business model where information is shared with employees to allow greater understanding of company practices, has recently transcended the business environment into the online world. Big business initially capitalized on the internet’s popularity and usefulness which quickly choked out the horizontal hierarchy structure. Then blogs and forums popped up where anybody could gather to discuss and share their knowledge about any topic. Sites like wikipedia grew out of this and today is the first stop for any seeking knowledge on a subject.
As people became more reliant on their community for access to knowledge instead of top-down corporations, they desired more and more freedom from those corporations. This led to open-source software that can be edited by anyone to fit the needs they have. The silent revolution of open-source software has taken 20 years to go mainstream, but the internet is awash with free open-source software that does everything from running our phones (Android), to managing our desktops, (Ubuntu) to writing our term papers (LibreOffice).
Occupy Wall Street has taken to the streets in cities across the world to voice their dissent to wealth inequality and systemic injustice this season, and they are doing it through open-source software. In fact, they are to the Democrat or Republican parties what Linux is to Windows PCs and Macs. It has no leaders, it answers to no one, and anyone who wants to replicate it can in their own city.
What OWS and Linux tell us is that a citizen doesn’t have to operate within the system anymore to be successful. One can gain an education through youtube, affect millions of people through the blog–o–sphere, and earn a living through any number of means (including programming, providing content, selling goods through ebay, or selling services).
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