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This question was recently raised by bestselling author
Jonathan Franzen (who wrote The
Corrections and Freedom).
Articles in Forbes and The Week noted that Franzen "has a
point.
To ban or burn books, authoritarian governments have to hunt down every
copy.
But a digital text originating from some external source 'simply has to
be turned off.'"
And such texts can be easily altered and manipulated by
governments or others promoting various agendas.
This debate is just starting, and it is very important since
free nations have always been nations with lots of citizen readers.
E-readers are certainly convenient, and to date the Internet
has had a positive impact on freedom.
The regular people will need to keep a
close eye on electronic writings, however, since powerful ideas and
technologies can be used for or against freedom.
In the digital age, there are
more things than ever for free people to watch--but the technology makes such
watching easier.
It is up to the people which direction this will ultimately
take.
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Social Leader Daily by Oliver DeMille
