One Among Many

(Update: China is censoring Internet news of the events in Egypt.)

Over the past week, as Egypt has exploded, we've once again seen a government try to "shut down" the Internet, as other oppressive regimes have previously sought to do.

Meanwhile, today Google launched "a special service to allow people in Egypt to send Twitter messages by dialing a phone number and leaving a voicemail."

In this way, two powerful companies based here in the Bay Area are putting their muscle to work on behalf of free speech for the Egyptian people.

It's long been apparent that the emergence of a global economy largely based on Internet communications has reduced the power of national governments. Even here, inside the most powerful nation on earth, the federal government is limited in what it can do to prevent messages it finds dangerous from becoming public, as the recent WikiLeaks case illustrates.

In this new world, it is not hard to foresee the fall of oppressive regimes like dominoes. North Korea is an obvious candidate. But the gorilla in the global attic is China, which despite reforms remains far from a free society.

The day that the world's largest country experiences a popular uprising like we have witnessed in 2009 in Iran, and this year first in Tunisia, and now Egypt, will be a turning point in the history of the globe.

"Information wants to be free," which was our libertarian rallying cry in the early days of the Internet, reflects a deeper reality -- that people want to be free.

As today dawns in Egypt over the next few hours, a massive march of perhaps one million people will likely bring matters to a head in Cairo. From all of the information I have been able to acquire, the Mubarek regime's days are numbered.

And so the relentless move toward universal freedom proceeds. My simple point tonight is to highlight the role of Twitter and Google as agents of change.

***

My youngest son stayed home from school today. He was sick with the bug that has hit virtually everyone in our extended family the past few weeks. As I usually do when one of my kids is sick, I asked him what I might bring him that could make him feel better.

He didn't hesitate: A burrito of refried beans, rice and cheese. Not exactly what I expected, but that's his comfort food.

The way my life works now is one of stark contrasts. Living without any partner exposes the bifurcated nature of being a part-time single parent. When my kids are with me, life is noisy, busy and warm. When they aren't, it is quiet, boring and cold.

Being in a relationship would bring everything back into perfect balance, from my perspective, but that seems only a distant prospect for me. Too much has happened, and too much has been lost in the process.

Trust, confidence, hope -- these are not easily regained once they depart your world. Not to mention energy. Why try to muster energy to meet someone new, after seeing over and over how it only leads to pain? Isn't being alone a far better option?

If this sounds bitter, it is because there are real consequences in this life when one person hurts another. Not everyone, in fact, can recover.

Still, my mind focuses not so much on this reality, which will eventually reach its end, but the privilege of being a parent with kids who love him; and a free man who yearns for freedom for others all over the globe.

Happiness may prove elusive for one, but I believe that freedom will eventually prevail for all.

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