Net Neutrality

It’s probably best that I get this out of the way right off the bat.

Let me say it: I SUPPORT NET NEUTRALITY. Please, let me explain.

I know; how scandalous for a libertarian Republican to support net neutrality. Don’t I reject the government sticking its fat nose into the lives of businesses and ordinary people? Don’t I care about a free market, civil rights, and all that other stuff? I mean, don’t tread on me, man.

Yes, you’re right. It seems like it should be against everything I stand for. But it’s not. You see, as much as I hate the government telling businesses what to do, I hate businesses taking advantage of ordinary people even more. In this sense, I’m just like Andrew Jackson, who everyone knows would be a Libertarian today. You know, the guy who got rid of the federal bureaucracy and paid off the entirety of the national debt?

Yes, this all-American Libertarian patriot also campaigned on keeping businesses and banks from taking advantage of farmers. He refused to renew the charter for the Second Bank of the United States because he felt it was taking advantage of consumers. He was all about protecting average folks, because he was one.

This applies today. Comcast says that with net neutrality gone, they won’t take advantage of their customers… but they’re still glad that it’s gone. They said that they wouldn’t throttle networks and websites if net neutrality was repealed… and that’s precisely why it should be repealed. “We won’t do it, so that’s why you should let us!”

Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and the rest of them aren’t interested in making more broadband and protecting you. They’re interested in exploiting you so that they can make more money. This is indisputable. Other countries can have hundreds of ISP’s, but the U.S. only has a few. It’s very easy for them to band together and all decide to take advantage of us to increase their bottom line.

So, if we know that they’re going to take advantage of us, why should we let them “compete?” And don’t give me all this crap about how net neutrality decreases investment. There has been no significant drop in investment since net neutrality took hold. All this does is protect consumers. Jackson, I’m sure, would be in favor of it. It’s time the rest of us favored it.

Now, I’m not saying net neutrality is perfect. It has problems that can be fixed, but it’s not worth a total repeal. But I’ll get into that some other time.

What are your thoughts? Tell me in the comments, or hit me up on the “Contact” page. I’d love to hear what anyone else thinks.