Information As An Economic Power

There is a whole lot of talk nowadays about power, who has it, who wants it, who should have it. What you do not hear a lot about is what exactly power is and where it really comes from. We believe that everybody in a free and capitalistic democracy should have it -- and we believe that one of the surest sources of it is knowledge. Those who possess crucial information and the knowhow to put that information to use effectively will be heads and shoulders above those who do not -- and not because they are better or more deserving but simply because they have that knowledge. The fact is that knowledge is and always has been the ultimate equalizer or advantage if you had it and others did not, and the ultimate granter of access to all that you could be. It's why monks slaved by candlelight to find and preserve the words of wisdom from the Greek and Roman empires almost lost forever during the Dark Ages by rewriting every word by hand. It's why the invention of the printing press, radio and TV and, ultimately, the internet on which you are reading this article changed the world. Conversely, it's the reason why for centuries those who wanted to keep people down and out of power have tried to keep knowledge out of the hands of those they wanted to oppress. In the United States, for instance, during the era of slavery, slave codes actually made it illegal to teach slaves to read or write. And in current day Afghanistan, women are not even allowed to go to school.