Myth 2020: Don't Just Look For "Light at The End of The Tunnel" > Make The World A Better Place

Here's the message from Mike Masnick @ Techdirt: Sure it can always getter, but if might always get worse. Needless to say, it's been an exhausting (and frustrating and stressful) year all around.It's tricky to figure out how to start this post this year, of all years > IMAGINE JUST HOW MUCH WORSE THE PANDEMIC WOULD HAVE BEEN WITHOUT THE MODERN OPEN INTERNET ACCESSIBLE AND USED BY EVERYONE

"As long-time readers are aware, ever since 2008, my final post of the year was a reflection on optimism. It started, in 2008, in the midst of a few fights to create a better internet at the time, in which two separate people had expressed to me what they believed to be a contradiction:

I am unfailingly optimistic about the potential for innovation to make the world better, and yet I often appeared (to them, at least), to be so angry about the state of the world and the efforts various people were involved in to impede the internet.

And thus started the tradition of writing a post about how important it was to stay happy and optimistic, even in the face of so many challenges to that optimism.

Whatever anger or frustration people sense from me has never been in opposition to that optimism, but directed at how that optimistic vision may be delayed or limited by short-sighted thinking.

New Year's Message: Make The World A Better Place

Techdirt

from the it-can-always-get-better dept

Thu, Dec 31st 2020 9:00am — Mike Masnick

If you'd like to look over the history of these posts, here's the full list:

• 2008: On Staying Happy
• 2009: Creativity, Innovation And Happiness
• 2010: From Pessimism To Optimism... And The Power Of Innovation
• 2011: From Optimism And Innovation... To The Power To Make A Difference
• 2012: Innovation, Optimism And Opportunity: All Coming Together To Make Real Change
• 2013: Optimism On The Cusp Of Big Changes
• 2014: Change, Innovation And Optimism, Despite Challenges
• 2015: Keep Moving Forward
• 2016: No One Said It Would Be Easy...
• 2017: Keep On Believing
• 2018: Do Something Different
• 2019: Opportunities Come From Unexpected Places 

I'm less excited about the fact that heading into the new year we're still going to be spending way too much time fighting back against bad policy ideas.

> Section 230 is still going to be under attack, even after the new administration takes over (Section 230, like copyright, remains an area where there is bipartisan horribleness). Speaking of copyright, that's back on the docket as well, with Senator Tillis's absolutely insane ideas regarding copyright reform. But it will be important that we fight to move things in the right direction.

I know that lots of people have been looking forward to the end of 2020 because, well, just look around.

Of course, I've also seen a few people note that many looked forward to the end of 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019... and the following year was often, in many ways, even worse.

It is absolutely true that "things can always get worse." And we should be concerned that even with things looking up in some ways, we're still not out of this mess.

Things can get worse. But, the optimism is that they can also get better. And I've dedicated my life to trying to help people understand how it can be better, and to encourage them to help fight to make it better.

So as we move into 2021, I hope that you're all ready to fight to help bring about this better, more optimistic world. We sure could use it.

Finally, my final paragraph of the final post every year is dedicated to again thanking all of you for making this worthwhile. It really is the community of folks here that makes Techdirt what it is. It's the interactions and the discussions and the debates held on Techdirt and across the wider internet that make all this worth doing.

It challenges us, makes us think, and always pushes us to continue to be better ourselves. So thank you, once again, for making Techdirt such a special and wonderful place where we can share and discuss all of these ideas. I look forward to what you'll have to say in 2021.