Sustainability and the Attack on Net Neutrality

I’ve asked a very large number of people who are concerned about sustainability if they are essentially optimistic or pessimistic that humankind will find a way out of its numerous dilemmas in which it finds itself: social injustice, the long-term environmental damage associated with fossil energy, water and food shortages, sea level rise, loss of bio-diversity, harm to human respiratory systems, etc.  Statistically, my informal poll is roughly equally divided.

Perhaps more interesting is the response to my follow-on question, which is “Why?”  I.e., if you feel that humankind is essentially doomed, why do you think we’re powerless to turn this around?  If you believe this will all have a happy ending, exactly why do you feel we’ll get through our challenges?

Optimists often tell me that they believe the advent of the Internet enables literally billions of people to share ideas and come together for the common good.  They point to events like the Arab Spring, and note that, due to the Web, the world’s most elite and powerful are no long capable of controlling what we think and how we communicate with one another.

I have to agree that this makes some level of sense, but I’m quick to point out that this level of freedom is currently under attack.  Here’s a funny but extremely informative piece on Net Neutrality by late-night television comedian/news anchor John Oliver.  Yes, it’s funny and informative, but the language is pretty vulgar; don’t say you haven’t been warned.