The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Every day I get out of bed and while I'm shaving, staring the mirror, I start thinking about everyone going to work in America. People go to work at all kinds of jobs every day, and they work hard for their paychecks. Our union has 1.8 million (and growing) working people who want to build better lives. And they want their work to be a place where they have the opportunity to realize their dreams.

I've also watched the political dynamic in Washington, DC grow increasingly insular among our elected leaders and their consultants - many would argue the press corps too - and so I've watched with amazement and delight as the internet has started to break-up that insularity, allowing bloggers to compete with major media outlets for scoops and encouraging average people around the country to participate in politics with the same intensity as wealthy donors.

That's where this all starts to go nuts. It's important to make sure that workers are free to organize online about issues in the workplace. It's also important to make sure that everyone in America has equal access to the internet. The internet's culture of openness is a critical part of it's success. Restricting access or creating a "tiered network" runs the risk of shutting down the internet only to those who can afford it. A "pay-to-play" internet is dangerous not only for any group that wants to organize it's members online, but to anyone who cares about free speech and democracy.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who think there's too much free speech online, that it's too open. I'm also sure that there are those who look at the central role that the internet has come to play in our daily lives and their eyes light up with dollar signs, seeing an opportunity to cash-in on what has become an important part of our day-to-day infrastructure. But the truth is that the open nature of the internet, where any single individual has as much access as a mammoth corporation, is exciting and important to the future of our country. It's important towards holding our elected leaders accountable - and it's also important to hold our business leaders accountable.

The transparency and the accessibility of the internet is crucial to the long-term success of our democracy - and of our economy. Letting a few large corporations control access using a fee-based system is
unthinkable - and dangerous.