You see them wherever you turn, hear about them everyday. Images and stories about people doing insane things, things beyond comprehension. Gang members killing people just to show they can, people robbing and killing for a few dollars, riots in the streets, martyrs strapping bombs on themselves and willingly, even happily, killing themselves and as many people around them as they can. Have you ever stopped to wonder why? I mean really thought about it? Experts continue to postulate profusely about geo-political instability, religious fanaticism, ethnic unrest, and a plethora of other very reasonable explanations. I'm going to propose that the root cause of all of these problems is actually much simpler than that, and that we have within our grasp the ability to all but eliminate it. Unfortunately, we also have within our grasp the ability to let it grow like a cancer and totally consume us.

There exists in these examples one common thread, a subliminal theme that runs through the very core of all of these issues. It is, quite simply, the fact that all of these people have been left behind. They are the nots in the haves and the have nots. These are all people that believe, many rightfully so, that they have no chance for advancement, no chance for self-improvement, no chance to better their own lives. This puts them in a position where they are susceptible to the rantings of madmen, where concepts and ideals that would otherwise be deemed lunatic are now thought of as logical and even insightful. Many of these people have been trodden upon for generations, stepped on by autocratic dictators and governments, by failed and misguided social programs, by the ambivalence, ignorance, and downright meanness of their fellow man. These are people that have lost hope. If you understand only one thing about the human condition then let it be this - there is no more dangerous person in the world than the person that truly believes that he or she has nothing to loose.

What do you think would happen if we could extend to every person on this planet the ability and knowledge to better their own lives? What would happen if we took all of those that have been left behind and empowered them to take control? How many gang members would maintain that dangerous, dead-end lifestyle it they could earn a decent salary? How many people in North Korea would continue to worship and blindly follow Kim Jong-il if they had access to information, if they had access to the facts about what is really happening in the rest of the world? How many people would continue to blow themselves (and everyone around them) to smithereens if they had the opportunity to stand on a level playing field, eye to eye with everyone else in the world, with all of the same opportunities and possibilities as any other person? How many people would take advantage of that opportunity? Would it be half? More? OK, let's be realistic, there will always be those that prefer to be blissfully disenfranchised. But if you believe in the tenacity of the human spirit as I do then you have to believe that, given any opportunity people will work, and work hard, to do whatever they can to better their own lives. All anyone needs is a chance.

So did we wake up this morning in Shangri-La, where all that is needed to cure the evils of the world are to think Pollyanna thoughts? No, sorry, afraid not. Where we did wake up, however, is in an incredible time in history. At time when, for the very first time, we have technologies becoming available to those that truly need it, technologies that will give those that need it most a chance. Information and knowledge is power. We now have the ability to give that power to the people with the greatest need. We can level the playing field.

But here's the rub - they are going to need help. Lots of help. From anyone that can offer it. On every subject imaginable. You may have been wondering where you fit into this whole grand scheme of things, well here it is. You are going to have to help. That's right. You.

How about some perspective. The following chart was created from information obtained from a website called Internet World Stats (www.internetworldstats.com). Let's take a look at just how many actual newcomers there have been to the web every year for the last decade, and then how many were new to the web just last year (2005):

That's right, globally there were over 200 million new users to the Internet just last year. Over 200 million people that for the very first time pointed their computers at this digital cloud we affectionately call the 'Internet' and dared to stick their heads in and take a look around. Over half a million people every single day, almost 4000 first time users in the time it takes the average person to read this article. There are many people here looking around today that have never before been exposed to any of the things that most of us take for granted. What is really striking about this is that only 16% of the world's population has yet to be exposed to the internet. There are a lot of people yet to come.

The following chart, also taken from Internet World Stats (www.internetworldstats.com) highlights an additional point:

Looking at this data you can see that the most affluent areas of the world have the highest penetration when it comes to Internet access. No surprise there. However, if you think about it what it really shows is that the people with the greatest need are going to be the last to the game. The people that I mentioned above. The people with the greatest despair, the people with the most to gain, the people with little or nothing to loose. The dangerous ones. These are the people with which we really need to be concerned, because the brightness of our future is dependent on their success.

So here's how this all pans out. The internet and various computer technologies have the potential to empower the most needy sections of our global society, and to provide them with the tools necessary for them to better their own lives. The affluent people in the world (that's you and me) got to the internet and these technologies first, and quite literally built something from nothing. And we continue to build it, adding additional content and new (and in many cases more complex) technologies on a daily basis. Now, gradually, the rest of the world is going to start finding their way here. The problem is that in most cases they won't have the same resources with which we are blessed. They certainly are not going to be familiar with many of the things with which we have become so accustomed. They aren't going to know the lingo, they won't understand the dozens of acronyms that we throw around like everyday words. They won't know the technology, or how to do most of the things that have become second nature to us. In many cases the internet is going to be a strange and mostly mysterious place.

That will not be, in and of itself, necessarily a bad thing. A strange and mysterious place can be very exciting place to find yourself. What we need to be careful of, however, is the feeling that they get from the visit. It is the same as walking into a corner store for directions when you are lost. You get a feeling from the people that are there, from the look of the surroundings, from the responses you get to your questions. You know within a few moments, without a shadow of a doubt, whether or not you are welcome there. No one need spell it out for you, you can tell from the feeling that you get.

I have seen a disturbing trend of late. Blog postings about how being 'elite' is a good thing, that we should strive to make it known to others without our knowledge that we are superior to them. Social bookmarking sites that spew outright scorn for anyone or anything that isn't up to some ill-defined and elusive level of expertise. All are divisive comments and opinions that would have the net split into just another domain of the 'haves' and the 'have nots'.

We all need to remember this important fact - being better at something than someone else doesn't make you better than them. This can be a difficult concept for some to grasp. All it means is that you now have an obligation to help them learn how to do whatever it is that you do just as well as you. It's the painful part of being a responsible adult. We need to stop the lunacy of belittling those that are not as fortunate as ourselves.

You leave a trail as you travel and correspond in cyberspace, a trail that will most definitely have an affect on those that follow. It is the tone of this trail, the words that you leave behind that those that are new to the internet will use to determine whether or not the web is a place where they are welcome, a place where they can grow, a place where they have a chance, and place where they can improve their lives and change their own futures. Will you help someone if you are asked? Are your words going to help or hinder those that read them in years to come, what will they find in the trail that you leave?

Will they find belittlement, scorn, snobbery, an elite foot pushing them back down? Or will they find encouragement, instruction, advice, and a helpful hand pulling them up? Be careful, be thoughtful, be helpful in the things that you do, in the things that you write. There is too much to loose, and so much to gain.

Editor's note - 25 Apr 2006
The previous post is an edited version of the original, which was published on 21 Feb 2006. I wrote the original article when I was more than a little ticked off about some things that some elitist idiots were saying, pontificating in the pointless effort to make themselves feel superior in their own lackluster abilities at the expense of someone that was trying to help those with a sincere interest in learning something new. Anyway, I'm totally over that now , and I realized after a day or two that the flavor of the article was not in tune with the purpose of this site. I've revised the article and re-posted it, apologies if you've seen this before, this is the 'kinder, friendlier' version.