Special Issue 5/1/02                                      Volume 11 No. 1
           In Memory of Michael Hauben: Discoverer of Netizens
 
[8]       Thoughts Regarding Michael's Work and Legacy.
                                     by Luis de Quesada
                                     lgd42@hotmail.com
                                                                         

Perhaps Michael Hauben's greatest ideal and contribution was that he
was people oriented. He envisioned government just as our forefathers
meant it to be "a government by the people and for the people" nothing
less is acceptable and that a true people's government could be
strengthened and improved by public debate. Michael's idea wasn't far
fetched or utopian. Michael's idea was exactly what our forefathers
intended our government to be. A government not in the hands of the
big corporations and their lobbyists, but a truly people oriented
democracy. Michael saw computers and the internet as unprecedented
means of communication and education which need to be preserved for
collective use and not for the private use of a privileged class. The
computer and its information highway are and must be for equally
shared public use, so Michael created Netizens, a collective for
citizens equally sharing the internet as a right not as a service. One
needs only to read the principles on which Netizens was founded, the
rights of Netizens; to understand Michael's intentions, ideals and
gift for all of us and all of mankind.

The way I see it, Michael, like Cuba's Jose Marti chose to side with
the poor, the workers and all the little and disenfranchised people,
as Marti once said and wrote, "CON LOS POBRES DE LA TIERRA, QUIERO YO
MI SUERTE ECHAR", which translates, "WITH THE POOR PEOPLE OF THIS
EARTH, I WANT TO SHARE MY FATE". And he did, fighting for the rights
of all the poor and the under served to become computer literate, to
enable them to freely log in and navigate the Internet. Therefore it
is my opinion that in founding Netizens, with the help of his loving
parents Ronda and Jay, Michael founded what I call "THE SPANISH
REPUBLIC OF THE INTERNET". The Spanish Republic 1931-1939 was founded
on truly democratic principles and justice for all, just like our own
in 1776. It is therefore our duty to defend Netizens and keep it
alive, just like the loyal citizens of Spain and their brothers and
sisters from all over the world came to Spain to defend it from
fascism and the never ending greed of those who wanted to keep Spain
and its people in eternal servitude. Unfortunately "THE GOOD FIGHT" in
Spain was lost along with many other "good fights" in recent decades.
So we must therefore carry on the torch and keep Michael's idea,
NETIZENS, alive to ensure that complete privatization of the Internet
never happens, because it is morally wrong, because in time, logging
in would be a private commodity, reserved for a privileged few. They
say people truly die when their ideas are no longer remembered and no
longer matter to anyone. Michael's idea means so much to the
underprivileged and to all of us who shared his vision of justice for
all. We must keep up the fight so his idea of a free and collective
internet will keep on existing as a right for everyone, for mankind's
benefit!

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Reprinted from the Amateur Computerist Vol 11 No 1, May 1, 2002. 
The whole issue or a subscription is available for free via email. 
Send a request to jrh@ais.org  or see  http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/
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