DC: The Irony of Journalism

I like many things about my job.  One of my favorites is, of course, covering events that give me free lunch (or various other free foods).  I also love that I'm covering the state legislative beat.  I get to learn more about how state governments work.  I'm not very familiar with state government, and I've learned a lot already.  I also get to see how different states are dealing with different telecom issues.  For example, Washington state has a bill that makes it easier for local governments to build broadband, while Georgia has one that would limit the local governments' ability to build broadband.  A bill was just introduced in West Virginia that would give the state's public service commission power to regulate broadband deployment.  The public service commission usually deals with things like electricity and waterworks, not broadband.  It just fascinates me that these different states are taking such different approaches to one issue.

It really makes me appreciate the freedom we have in this country, and it brings me back to the idea that we are such an individualistic society.  Different regions of our country can have polar opposite laws just because different types of people live there and have different types of needs.  Many people argue that, in this technology age, smartphones and social media and things have made us more individualistic.  It's an interesting debate.  Whether we are more or less individualistic now, I don't know.  But I think Americans have always been individualistic.  That's the idea our country was founded on: "I have rights, and YOU can't take them away from ME."  That's the most beautiful and right form of selfishness.  We are all united in our self-absorbedness.  But if we think someone attacks our rights, we can unite in an instant to fight back.  We saw that with the whole SOPA debate a couple weeks back. 

I think that the Internet and everything else has made us more united if anything.  We can share information with each other, check up on each other and give feedback in a matter of seconds.  Sure, we are probably less social, as in we have less face-to-face interactions.  And there are bad things about that to be sure.  But here's my point:
Technology came along, a wonderful tool that could be used for good or for bad.  And what do we use it for?
To connect with each other! 

We may be individualistic, but we are still very much alive and concerned with each other.  So much so that we all want to be instantly connected with each other 24/7.  Some of us can't go for more than one day without checking Facebook.  Is it unhealthy? Maybe.  But what does it say about our natures?  We're hungry for information.  We're hungry to learn, to be aware of each other.  And whether you're a positive young mother posting about her kids or a whiny teenager posting complaints about everyone under the sun, you know you've always got some type of following who will support you and "like" what you say.  What a beautiful use of technology.