PrintMarch 19, 2011
What if King George III had had Google?
Based upon their excellent marketing and programming skills, Google has become the most popular search engine and social media site on the Internet. The company was created by Stanford University graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and after Google's initial public offering in 2004, Page and Brin hired Eric Schmidt. Google's mission statement is: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," and their unofficial slogan is, "Don't be evil." But are they?
The leadership of Google is very fond of our current Administration, and CEO Eric Schmidt's contributions favor the Democrat Party over the Republican Party 12:1. Google employees contributed $803,000 to Obama, and Google executives have taken jobs in the Obama administration." (These folks might be handy to someone who desires to regulate the Internet.)
It's also prudent to take a look at Google's operations and management practices as well as their corporate culture. What is the character of the company? As Lincoln observed; "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character give him power." Such as the power of control over a monopolistic tool like Google, which any tyrant could turn into a cyber-weapon. So what kind of character does Google Inc. have? It's not hard to dream up ways to collect and use information for negative purposes. In fact, one night after reading these Google media reports my mind offered up this atavistic scenario.
1760 King George III, buys Ye Old Googly from Oxford students.
1761 King George begins beta testing of Ye Old Googly in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
1763 Citizens in America are wondering how the British obtained their personal financial data, and the number and types of weapons in each house.
1765 The French inform the Americans that the British have been reading their correspondence, tracking their movements and collecting their personal information. There are town hall meetings across the colonies to discuss this outrageous invasion of their privacy. Yet, some citizens think Ye Old Googly is great because their mail now comes a day earlier.
1766 A delegation of Americans meets King George III, in London, who acknowledges his agents have been sketching the houses of community leaders and collecting personal data throughout the colonies. King George informs them if they don't like it they can move to Canada or Mexico.
1768 The King tries to shame the Americans by telling them keeping secrets is for filthy people. The Americans are angered his words, and respond by collecting and publishing information about King George. A few Patriots talk of rebellion.
1769 King George learns of the American outrage and publishing of his personal data quickly, thanks to data gathered by Ye Old Googly, version I.V., and in retaliation the King immediately blocks the publication of the leading newspapers: The Pennsylvania Gazette, The Virginia Gazette, The Maryland Gazette, and The Boston News-Letter.
The Americans are isolated and ignorant of events and meetings, and become more cautious.
1770 On March 5, the citizens of Boston have a street fight with British troops, and five people are killed in what is known as the Boston Massacre.
King George immediately uses his Old Googly list of gun owners to have the Red Coats confiscate every gun they can find in Boston. Most Bostonians have heard of the fight, but there are too many rumors to determine what really happened, and now their situation is worse, because their arms have been confiscated. Talk of rebellion is moot without arms.
To ensure the continued impotence of Colonists, King George signs a secret deal with constables, sheriffs, and Old Googly agents, to report any further incitement of rebellion to his generals. Rabble rousers like John Adams, Thomas Pain, Ben Franklin, Daniel Webster, John Jay and James Madison are jailed. The British troops launch an intense manhunt to seize George Washington and an author named Publius.
Without the leadership of the Founding Fathers, and the protection of the second amendment, there was no Revolution. Ye Old Googly proved very useful in making data actionable, just as the Oxford students promised.
Google has already censored and blocked anti-Obama blogs, and admitted their staff picks Google search results! What recourse will we have if Google censors conservative blogs in October 2012, just before the election? Do we appeal our case to Eric Holder?
