The Netizen Declaration of Citizenship

From: Born (nrvous6_at_netscape.net)
Date: 10/29/04

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    Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 00:15:50 -0500

    who
    I am a Netizen. My country is the Internet, and my borders are my own
    interests. I communicate around the world at the speed of electrons. My
    language is the lines of text on my screen, the smileys of my messenger,
    the emails in my inbox. I dine on content and interaction with people
    whom I hold no prejudice against based on race, color, creed, or sexual
    orientation. I breathe discussion and conversation, and reside in a life
    with no walls, no blockades, and no one to tell me where not to go. I
    live in a freedom that is anarchic in nature, but is controlled by a
    common decency shared by my fellow netizens. My pulse is that of
    bandwidth. My history is in the Netbook and Usenet. My religion is
    TCP/IP. My world contains immeasurible knowledge that is made up of only
    two things: 1 and 0. It is a world of stark contrasts and
    contradictions, but is maintained because of those. I live in RL under
    day and night, but online with the constant glow of the computer screen,
    with no time limit except my ability to stay awake. I travel by
    "surfing", and learn by "browsing". My community is the largest
    collective of individuals in the history of the universe, and I am the
    only person I have contact with physically. I can find love, do my
    grocery shopping, read a book, watch live news, and play Deep Blue at
    chess without ever leaving my chair.

    why
    I am one of curious interests. I seek knowledge based on first-hand
    experience. This knowledge is best gained through direct communication.
    Yet, in RL I do not have access to that which will allow me to
    understand. Those whom I choose to learn from are not available. Or I
    must perform time-wasting rituals of societial creation which are
    neither efficient nor consistantly effective in producing the required
    result. I desire not to be tied down by the confines of an existence
    based upon social skills I do not choose to learn or accept. I choose
    not to live by the standards which I had no input in creating or ability
    to change to suit my needs and skills. So I have created my own
    community, based on open communication and the desire to understand and
    inform.

    how
    This is my testament. To be free of the confines of space. To stretch
    out to the ends of the world. To find those who live as I do. A
    community of individuals whose existence is made up of electrical
    impulses and information. I live by no rules other than those of
    acceptance and decency. I choose my friends and enemies. I flame only
    for my beliefs. I am judged by my words, not by the color of my skin. I
    believe in knowledge and limitless communication. I do not tolerate
    bounderies or walls. I should be able to talk, laugh, discuss, argue,
    shop, read, watch, listen, and learn whatever I choose. I am a Netizen,
    and this is my Declaration of Citizenship.

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