The Internet was supposed to make us all come together.  A place where we could meet like minded peoples, find and explore our interests, play games together and something akin to a utopia.  Each side of an arguement would be given it’s due.  There would be rationality and a curtsey to others.  Reality, like with any other Utopia, is something darker and with a hidden under belly of corruption.  It comes with a strong dose of the stink of humanity, cruelty and neglect.

A few years ago, the providers of the Internet, not the actual backbone of the net, but those who were connected to the backbone and provided Internet services to the consumer and other businesses, decided that they would limit and control traffic to certain websites (mainly competitors) for those they provided service to.  Now understand, in a free market system this would be okay, not ideal, but okay as changing the provider would allow the market to stay competitive.  However, the system is designed such that you have no choice on your local internet provider or worse in bigger markets the providers have colluded amongst themselves to limit the traffic.  Under such an attack net neutrality was set by the FCC under the Obama administration and then less than two years later was overturned by the Trump-sters. 

As we have seen in the past few years and months, is that the internet is used by corporations, governements and those with their own agendas out to influence and change our way of thinking.  And yet, the reality tends to be to that we as a people are holding on to our belief systems very tightly and we watch, read and consume online (digital) materials that strength and corroborate those beliefs.  Even when they are wrong.  Okay, I take that last bit back.  Even when they are not factually accurate.

What we have now is a system where those on the fringes of belief systems try and drag the majority of us sitting in the middle with slight inclinations towards them even further and further towards the edge of their insanity.  What has lead even more down the path is the polarization of the politicians.  The fringe brings out the fanatcially obsessed believers quicker than they can be disposed off.

Is there a solution?  The erosion of true morals and values to fringe beliefs and outrageous behavior is being perpetrated is happening on a continual basis.  Common decency, compassion, morals and ethics are taking a backseat to “winning” an arguement and bullying tactics.  We must be able to police ourselves or the internet will be a place to get quick information in a sea of advertising and hate.  A quest to find the treasures while being surrounding by hazards and trolls.