Wednesday, January 28, 2015

You're Gonna Wanna See The Internet's Own Boy

Censorship is never a good thing. It's amazing that we've made it as long as we have as a society while still allowing people to censor us... sure censorship is a complicated subject dealing with the ideas of where power lies and how control can be attained. But some individuals are better formed to combat such convoluted issues than others.
The Internet's Own Boy is the true life story of a real genius, Aaron Swartz... cofounder of reddit and all around do-gooder. This is a guy who saw big problems from a very unlikely position... if an individual can chip away at the big stuff, eventually they'll be able to expose the soft underbelly... and clean out the bugs. If one person stands up the right way, the rest will inherently follow. Aaron was clearly an amazing thinker. It seems he could see problems from more sides than most and could work through them with unparalleled abandon. His tool and most powerful weapon was the internet itself. But then the justice system came in and decided they wanted (not even needed) to make an example... and because of a far more broken system than I usually like to admit, we'll now be deprived of one of the most brilliant minds of our generation.
I know it's a real downer. But if you don't know the story of Aaron Swartz, you owe it to yourself to learn. This is a fascinating documentary with a very relatable perspective. Brian Knappenberger found a very compelling way to give an unjustly sad story a necessary and hopefully positive message. While most of us may not be computer geniuses or the like, I think this film certainly proves that one man CAN make a difference. And that's the kind of thing American's need to be reminded of on a regular basis... before infringements into our rights go too far.

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