An avalanche of new Internet-related legislation would simply stifle the development of a medium that shows every indication of delivering on the promise on giving everyone a shot at liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There s much more to Dyson s book than the political argument. The book is also full of fascinating observations about the effects of the Internet on our personal lives. In fact, Dyson s book might be seen as a long proof of the slogan that the personal is the political and the political is the personal. The Internet allows people to pursue their inclinations, good and bad, and it depends, at present, on a powerful force to police itself, the force of community.
Community is what the Internet is all about.
If Esther Dyson s work is an example of the kind of thinking that goes on in the salons of the digerati, we can be grateful that those high-tech communities, despite their exclusivity, exist. Reference Dyson, Esther. A Design for Living in the Digital Age. The following questions are based on the preceding text. Clicking on a question will take you to the place in the text where the question is discussed.