> I have a lot of issues with subsidizing services for people in the sticks.
> Their cost of living is lower in other respects. I see no reason why
> taxpayers in New York should subsidize internet access for people in North
> Dakota, say.
Actually, I do. Why should a child born in a remote village in, such
as, Chignik, Alaska, be denied an equivalent education, opportunity
for future career, access to healthcare, etc., than a child born in
Queens? You might consider "Internet Access" to be a luxury item, but
it is the mode of communication for today, just as the postal service
was in the past, and the telephone network. It's no different than a
transportation system. Roads, docks, airports--these are all critical
to support the people wherever they may be. A child should not be
denied a future, or even the possibility of living because we think
only those worthy of life are those who are in the cities.
Having spent many years working in telecom in the midwest, I now am in
Alaska. My job is to provide the same opportunity to those in the
remote communities as those in the big cities. One of the major
infrastructure projects I'm working on, I partner with an engineer
from another company. She grew up in one of those extremely remote
fishing villages, but was granted an education that allowed her to get
a scholarship to the university where she got an engineering degree.
Without an equivalent communication network and a transportation
network that brought in teachers, healthcare workers, and of course,
the ability to buy/sell/move goods/services to the outside world, she
would have not only been raised in poverty, but would have been denied
a chance for even surviving to adulthood, much less being able to have
a professional career. She's one of the best mechanical engineers I've
ever worked with. What she does, and what specifically she works on,
literally has a worldwide impact.
Until a few years ago, I also had this same mentality of "they choose
to live in ____, so screw them." President George W Bush actually had
a massive impact on me and the country with his "No Child Left Behind"
laws. Granted, that brought along a lot of textbook nonsense, but the
big thing about NCLB is that it leveled the education system across
the entire country and allows for a child in ANY location to get a
proper education with equivalent future opportunities. And then
"Obamacare" came along and is doing for the healthcare system what
NCLB did for the education system. By law, clinics, hospitals,
libraries, and schools have to have a minimum standard of service for
all served locations.
It's a shame that the elitist attitudes that I see among many
Europeans isn't quite so enlightened.
AK (proud of my work as it is making an impact) Schnozz
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|