I’m often catagorised as an idealist, dreamer, utopian, even hippie, as a result of my being. In my simple (and humble) opinion there are a lot of opportunities for change in ‘our’ way of living. In terms of our social attitude towards each other, the way we treat natural resources, the way we design our products (from choice of material to how it is designed to engage with the consumer), the way politics engage with citizens, just to name a few.

Now, I’m sure I’m not the only one, I talk to loads of people, from all sorts of social backgrounds and current settings that see the same world I do (more or less, perception is reality), and I truly believe Internet is the enabler of the change a lot of us would like to see. Internet is also facing a great challenge in the years ahead though. I might have (if not, I guess I should have) written about the possibility of the American ‘cable-TV-Internet’ bill that has been proposed by the telecom and cable-TV guys over there (AT&T mostly). (some info here, and an active website for net neutrality, which is the key issue for the success of Internet as a carrier/enabler of change, here) The bill would basically persue to annihilate the current freedom of choice we have on Internet. The idea these bright guys have is that the decision of what websites should be available ‘high-speed’ to consumers, should be made in boardrooms, not on the Internet itself, by the users thereof, collectively functioning as a control, relevance, (or push) factor of (web)success.

I’m happy to see that opposed to the current push towards Internet bans, and moderation by governments (here, here (Wikipedia article on general Internet censorship), here, here) are opposed by some good news (here, here in the U.S. for instance and here). The thing is, mostly, that the Internet is bigger than it’s users, because, as a single user, you’re merely a dot in the ‘cloud’, yet as a community, we’re the most powerful institution in the world. Governments with the illusion that they have the ability to control the internet must be drunk on Absinth.

The simple fact of matter is, if you push people into a corner, they’ll dig. They’ll go underground, and you (i.e. governments) won’t be able to find them. Bas has written a good piece on that 2 days ago. His point is, when you push the users of Internet into ‘illegality’ by illegalising the way they use the Internet (and have been using for a very long time), you’ll push them further and further away. His example of the amount of hackers in countries with a strong Internet ‘protocol’ is, to me quite convincing. The number of hackers in countries as such is seemingly much higher than in countries that have relatively free Internet.

Back to that wave of change you’re on. Because, you are too. Whether you like it or not. If you’re using the Internet you are part of the biggest ‘Tribe’ in the world, and thus, part of the change we’re pushing (some a bit more active than others) into this world. Initiatives such as Couchsurfing, provide, except for a cheap way round the world, also the intention and opportunity to meet new people, become more familiar with new cultures, debate viewpoints of the world and, as is the mission of Couchsurfing, “We envision a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places we encounter. Building meaningful connections across cultures enables us to respond to diversity with curiosity, appreciation and respect. The appreciation of diversity spreads tolerance and creates a global community. With the apparent success, over one million members and growing , Couchsurfing is a vehicle of movement that is here to stay.

Also more ‘hands-on’ approaches of change through Internet, can be found all over. We look at Avaaz, who roam round with a mission that ‘goes a little something like this’;

Avaaz.org is a new global web movement with a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want. Across the world, most people want stronger protections for the environment, greater respect for human rights, and concerted efforts to end poverty, corruption and war. Yet globalization faces a huge democratic deficit as international decisions are shaped by political elites and unaccountable corporations — not the views and values of the world’s people.

In terms of how they work, and what the extend of their reach is, one should sit down for a bit. I’ve spoken about Internet being the enabler and agent of change, and Avaaz has modeled this into a very, very hardcore system, in one year alone, Avaaz went from their Beta verion to 3.5 million members and growing 9,000 a day(!!!), this is what they say about it;

“Technology and the internet have allowed citizens to connect and mobilize like never before. The rise of a new model of internet-driven, people-powered politics is changing countries from Australia to the Philippines to the United States. Avaaz takes this model global, connecting people across borders to bring people powered politics to international decision-making.”

If you’d like to know more about Avaaz or even become a member, please check here.

As said, we’re riding a wave, and the waves is one that weather specialists would call a tidal wave, and it’s not going to stop, we have reached critical mass, we need to realise it.

For now, love and peace for all.