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COVID-19 Has Proven We Need Universal Basic Internet Now
May 24, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed some of the world's most pressing inequalities.  Nearly a third of Americans living in rural areas don't have access to the internet.  Some advocate for a 'Universal Basic Internet' - a coordinated federal effort to provide people with access to the web.  They liken its potential success to that of the 'electrification of America' in the wake of the Great Depression.
There’s a lot of chatter around what kind of stimulus is needed to save the economy and ensure financially vulnerable Americans can retain some degree of stability. Talks have included everything from long-term rent delays to a universal basic income (UBI). But if policymakers want to do more than just keep the floor from falling out and start laying the groundwork for an actual recovery, then they ought to be discussing a different UBI as well: Universal Basic Internet.
Have you read?     Could coronavirus lockdown help close Latin America's digital divide?    Universal basic income is the answer to the inequalities exposed by COVID-19    Lockdowns have hit people without internet access the hardest
Just as the electrification of America brought the nation out of the Great Depression, the Wi-Fi-cation of the nation can ease us out of the COVID-19 collapse. Consider that in 1932, a mere 10% of rural Americans had electricity. As a result, a divide in opportunity emerged: On one hand, city-dwellers had the modern infrastructure required to enjoy a standard of living that would allow them to fully pursue the American Dream; on the other, millions of Americans were literally in the dark (or, at least, candle-lit dimness).
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