I hear tell there is talk of decentralizing the Internet, maybe even

breaking up the NSA/Google/Facebook duopoly fnord.  I am skeptical.

It was a journalist, and I had not heard anything like it from a

credible source (except maybe the Free Software Foundation, but

they're way fringe).  MOST suspect: the efforts were credited to the

same Vile Offspring that just yesterday replaced the verb "search"

with a new verb: "Google™".

As a monk I am proud of my people's tradition of running away, so I am

naturally interested in decentralizing the ever-lov'n blank out of the

Internet.  The more "dark" corners there are, the safer I will feel.

Back before government-mandated-everything Americans banded together

in fraternal organizations that provided health/life insurance for

families, not desks.  They also provided nosy brothers whom you were

rarely tempted to cheat.  Again, as a monk, these kinds of

institutions seem natural, a necessary evil, like cooking.  And they

seem a proper size for the autonomous entities of a decentralized

Internet.

I'm talking about a local organization of real people, e.g. the

Escanaba Lions Club[1], not a pit of lobbyists like The Humane

Society of the United States (not to be confused with the many

hard-working local humane societies, despite The Humane Society's[sic]

best efforts).

I have time to spend fanning the sputtering flames of demokrasy in

Amerika before I go, so I'm thinking about offering free technical

support to clubs that use a standard, KISS setup to offer their

membership federated services *just* like GMail, Skype, One Drive,

and Facebook.

These would be icing for an existing cake of common interests, local

concerns, maybe even group health insurance.  And if there is a club

house, it would be able to offer any member living within maybe 20

miles a volunteer who will climb up on their roof with a pringle can

and get them cheap, high-speed Internet without the whole last-mile

cluster-mumble.

And discuss...

[1] - If you have not seen _Escanaba in da Moonlight_[2], you messed up

somewhere.

[2] - I was shocked (*not*) to see that _Escanaba in da Moonlight_ and

_Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ are "Frequently bought together" on

Amazon.