Time for a PSA on all this phony activism around #SOPA I'm seeing. Grinding my gears a bit. #inb4tldr

First of all, I've made it clear I oppose #SOPA as currently written, although do support better policing of the Internet as it pertains to copyright infringement and piracy. So in-general, I am in favor of any activism that aims to disarm the bill's supporters.

And we did just that. Congress and the White House has spoken out against the bill, and it has been postponed - and it will not likely pass as currently written. Mission success people, we can go home. Larger institutions (like the ESA) will continue to monitor the situation. Our job is officially done.

But what frustrates me is that once all this subsides, all these "activists" protecting their Internet, protecting their YouTube, protecting their Facebook - after all these supporters are satisfied, you won't hear a peep from them ever again. They'll go back to watching American Idol and Jersey Shore. They'll go back to playing video games 6 hours a day, without a care in the world for the other things brewing in congress.

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Are you aware of what NDAA allows? Indefinite detention without trial, among other equally insidious things. And that bill passed through on December 31 2011. Are you even aware a bill called "Enemy Expatriation Act" exists, which allows the government to strip ANY American national of their nationality?
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"Oh I'm not a terrorist so it doesn't bother me..." What do you think Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were labeled by Great Britain as? Enemies of the state. With this law that just passed, anyone, at any time, can be labeled an enemy of the US and detained without trial or justification to any oversight committee, for any reason. If Julian Assange (WikiLeaks guy - NOT a terrorist) were in the US, he'd be disappeared right now. Do you get it?

There are far graver, scarier bills than SOPA that aim to destroy our civil liberties IRL - In Real Life - not over the Internet. I don't care what you say, the Internet could disappear entirely, and my life would still go on. I would still find a way to live and prosper as did generations before me. However, if some of these other bills in congress pass, God only knows what will come of my life. Of OUR life.

Between bills already passed, and more bills in the system that are going un-opposed, we could be facing civil unrest, martial law, revolution. If the "Occupy" season of 2011 wasn't indication enough, we as a society are beginning down a road... A long dark, uncharted road. Actually, scratch that - it's been charted. Ancient Rome charted it. Great Britain charted it. And if history has taught us anything, it didn't work out so well for them.

But no, it's all about SOPA. SOPA is the worst thing in the world. No matter that we're 14 Trillion dollars in debt, and that our entire financial system is on the verge of complete and total collapse. Or that we have gross corruption to the core of our government. No, SOPA is the worst thing in the world, and deserves all this media and social opposition.

Look, all I'm saying is that - as someone who is wired in to all things U.S. government, economy, and current affairs - it would be great to see some education and support filter through to middle America even when it's not convenient for you. Be an activist against things that truly matter. Things just as important as SOPA, if not more important. It might not be as easy as redacting content on your Twitter account, but you can still oppose these other bills.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have opposed SOPA so loudly. I'm saying just don't stop now that SOPA is coming to a close. Be just as loud as you were with SOPA, but against other bills. Go to GovTrack, find these other bills, get in tune with what our government is doing. Don't wait for friends to tell you about it, and even then just ignore it until you start seeing it trending on Twitter. Be active NOW, or it will never get trending on Twitter.

We're still a government of the people, by the people, for the people. So it's just as much your responsibility as "theirs."

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