In case you missed it, there is a video floating around the internet about Net Neutrality.? No, not the brilliant John Oliver one, but one from a more conservative point of view. ?When you watch the video, you might think it is a joke, but no, it’s legit.? It calls itself ?Clearing up Net Neutrality? and does anything but live up to the title.
First the video:
Yes, you can stop laughing now.? Yes, what you just saw was real.
Did you get the sense that the nice soft music was there to lull you into a hypnotic trance or something?
First let’s take a look at where our host is from, Freedom Works.? A look at their website,?www.freedomworks.org,??for all of 2 seconds reveals a whole lot of Tea Party nonsense, including the classic ?smaller government? argument plastered all over the page.? Yet, they support a governmental body, The Federal Communications Commission, making regulations that at best are unnecessary.? Isn?t that a bigger government?? Can you smell the hypocrisy cooking?
For a touch more, this nice little tidbit from their rebuttal?to President Obama’s support of Net Neutrality:
“No Blocking.?Requiring an ISP to provide equal access to all web content is akin to forcing a restaurant to serve every type of food. Product differentiation is one of the main ways in which companies compete. Just as cable companies offer a variety of packages for people who like sports, or movies, or news – why shouldn’t ISPs be allowed to tailor their service, and their prices, to individual needs?”
If that makes any sense to you, please explain it to me.? The food analogy is not in the same ballpark, or even the same sport.? Cable company different packages being offered by the same company are not competitive.? Still, let’s talk about this video because I could write ten articles on the craziness of this site.
Iris Somberg says:
?What Net Neutrality does is force providers to treat all web content equally, the same speed, the same prices, the same access, but all web content isn’t equal.??
Well, um, yes it is.? Of course, a group of people who buck against equality to begin with would not think so.? If that sounds harsh, read some of their articles on the tragic events in Ferguson, MO.
Somberg states that Facebook, Youtube, Netflix, and a high school blog ??serve very different purposes and very different needs.?? Well, yes and no.? The needs are one thing that keeps getting harped on in this video.? However, Somberg presents these different sites as having the same packages as any other site, anyone who has gone on the internet knows there are different hosting packages dependent on needs.? Problem here is the Net Neutrality debate is not talking about web space or even bandwidth, it’s solely about access with companies like Comcast wanting to be able to charge more for faster service to the ?popular? sites.
?By dictating all these sites be treated the same, Net Neutrality makes small companies that don’t take up much bandwidth at all pay more so that big companies can pay less.?
Bold face lie to get the less informed to ?jump on the bandwagon.?? Anyone who has taken more than three seconds to research this issue knows this statement is totally false.? I think there was more truth in the Republican Senate races.
I could go on but the video devolves into blatant falsehoods and misrepresentations from that point.? Clearly this was a video made for ill-informed people who call customer service and cannot tell you what internet browser they use or what version of Windows is on their computer.? Before anyone says anything, if you have worked in customer service in relation to computers in any form you know these people do exist. The real point I am trying to get to is that this exemplifies so many Conservative arguments it’s not funny.
?Want equality for the races, well if we make it equal it’s no longer equal and that’s not the kind of equality we want.?
?Want men to quit catcalling, well men have special needs to catcall women, just have to live with it because that is what they need.?
?Equal or fair pay, that forces corporations to pay more, that’s not equal or right.?
Simplified versions, but I think you see where I am going with this. This video is the epitome of the way conservatives think. All it takes is a deeper look to see just how ugly and unjust that mindset really is.
