Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible: Three Radically Democratic Internet Policies

The policies surrounding the Internet in the United States are determined by what the wealthiest and most powerful players wish to have happen. This is producing a digital world that is inimical to democracy and to the revolutionary potential of these technologies. The author argues for radical policies: the nationalization of the ISP/cellphone industry and its conversion to a public utility; the nationalization of huge Internet monopolies that are impervious to antitrust; the adoption of a massive public subsidy to pay for independent, competitive, uncensored, noncommercial news media. The author points out that these proposals have a basis in conservative theory as well as radical and liberal democratic theory. It is imperative to broaden the debate and draw the citizenry into it.