The Internet is creating a new state of unity among people of every nation.   The distinctions between culture, race, ethnicity, and religion are dissolving.   The only prerequisite to joining the new state is literacy and hardware, and there are forces at work to provide more opportunity for everyone.   The "One Laptop Per Child" program, for example, is not about laptops, it’s about education and freedom.

With a minimum of capital (the cost of a new or used or free computer) and a pittance for internet access, the sum of all available knowledge is here.   Virtually any document (including pictograms and cave paintings) ever fashioned in human history has, in one form or another, been uploaded.   You don’t have to take someone’s word for what is written in a document or their interpretation, you can read it and decide for yourself.   These are some very good reasons why tyranical governments cannot allow their citizens access to the Internet or the opportunity to make a living wage.   They can’t afford it.   An ignorant and poor population is essential to a dictatorship’s survival.

Physical borders are distance, shores of continents, rivers and mountains.   Political borders are the boundaries of countries, drawn with lines on maps.   Where the Internet is concerned, these borders have become largely meaningless.   There remain electronic borders erected by some governments, but the Internet is eroding those barriers, too.   People who are constrained by their governments from accessing information will find a way.

It’s a revelation to visit or live in a border town.   Anywhere close to the borders of two countries, the populace enjoys a fusion of culture, music, art, religion, food and philosophy.   Sure, there’s a gate and a cop and papers to be shown, but to the people who live there the differences are barely perceptible.   The Internet is the new border town, unaffected by barriers that have plagued us in the past, leading us into a more unified future.

Lisa Miller