The foremost reason to care about the digital divide in the United States is that the internet is no longer optional. So much of what we do is conducted online.
There are business that do not even accept a paper application anymore.
There are banks that do not have brick-and-mortar locations anymore.
There are schools that are significantly more affordable than the average cost of tuition in the US, and they are totally online.
Far too often, people are excluded from participating in something that would drastically improve their future, simply because the digital divide is alive and well. When people cannot take steps to better their future, they begin to lose hope, and a hopeless society is a society that gives rise tremendous atrocities visited on minorities. Let us not forget that Germany elected Hitler legally, because there was a divide caused by people not being able to take steps towards a better future.
I think the crux of this issue lies with the questions: who is responsible to end the digital divide? My answer to that is schools. Increasingly, schools are embracing online homework, or homework that is online research heavy. This makes me feel like it is their responsibility to make sure their students are actually capable of doing that homework.
This would end up being a widespread government program, and as a libertarian on most issues, I often hesitate to accept government intervention in the personal lives of citizens. However, this government program would give people the tools they need to get out of poverty, and that is a noble goal that should be embraced and promoted. For all we know, the next Stephen Hawking is sitting in some school failing his science class because he doesn’t have internet at home.
Granted, it would be spectacular if private business took this goal on, and ran with it, but it is unrealistic to expect a private business to give away everything for free, even if they got tremendous tax-breaks. The only possible way I could see for private business to be involved would be if the government simply bought their service for whole towns. Maybe start small and have the government buy wifi for the 10 poorest towns in every state in the nation. That alone would be a tremendous step on the right direction.
Aaron Reger 