Kostas Grammatis believes that every human deserves access to the Internet. The world is unbalanced, with more people having less than most others. But what would happen if an opportunity was provided to every single human to give them access to information that would allow them to grow. Current statistics indicate that 78% of the world has electricity, but only 26.5% have access to the Internet. Think of how many bright ideas that could revolutionize the world will never see the light of day because those people never saw the spark that could have set them free. This is really sad and unacceptable.
Those of us who love the Internet consider that freedom on the Internet, as well as freedom to use the Internet, is the golden standard. No one should own the Internet because we all created the Internet. It belongs to humanity. And we are currently in a fight against those who have, who want it all under their domain. This fight is probably one of the most important fights for democracy for every living human being. Because humanity can build the Internet to hold information that would truly better our world, without all of the crap that comes from commercialization.
So, Kostas started a campaign to raise money to buy a satellite from the now-bankrupt Terrestar. After almost $67,000 in donations from over 1000 people, his group, AHUMANRIGHT.ORG, found out in July that the company had sold the satellite to Dish Network for $1.375 billion dollars. It is a blow, but definitely not all that shocking considering the actions of the business world that we have observed for decades. The business world that has left us in the current mess that we’re all in, observing the roller coaster ride of the stock markets, while we listen to experts argue over whose ideology is better. The sad fact is that no ideology works, and the innocent are the victims of this stupid warfare.
But Kostas and his organization have not even slowed down from the latest news. He and his supporters met with the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, who declared on June 3, 2011, that Internet access was a human right. You can read the findings from the UN’s special report to see that at least as a collective group, the leaders of mankind understand the importance of this game-changing concept. And they are continuing to meet with new organizations and people who can collectively see this dream come to fruition.
I’d say that this cause is definitely one to get on board with and support with whatever you have to offer. Our world is looking for such an opportunity as this to bring us together collectively through the Internet.
– inspired by a Big Think post
