On behalf of the Wetmechanics of Wetmachine, I express our condolences to the family and friends of Aaron Swartz. I did not know the man, but I know of his work, for which I am deeply grateful. Aaron’s contributions benefited me personally, because I cherish and depend upon a free and open Internet, and he championed the same causes that we tend to champion here on Wetmachine. But in a much larger sense his work benefited everyone who believes in democracy, fairness, and civilized society. He was evidently not a perfect man, which should come as no surprise, since as far as I know there is no such thing. But he fought the good fight in search of a more just world. His heart was good, and he was effective. By that I mean he was a doer, not a pundit. We need more people like him.
Cory Doctorow has written a very beautiful and nuanced remembrance of Mr. Swartz. I recommend you take a few moments to read it if you haven’t done so already.
We wish for the family and friends of Aaron Swartz whatever solace they may find in the knowledge that he was loved and appreciated by people of goodwill all over the earth.
Related Posts:
- Get Ready for the 2022 Season of Spectrum Wars! by Harold March 15, 2022 It isn't the sultry Regency drama of Bridgerton, the action psycho-drama of Moon Knight, or even the, um, whatever the heck Human Resources is. But…
- What the Eff, FAA? My Insanely Long Field Guide to the FAA/FCC 5G C-Band Fight. by Harold November 8, 2021 5G has been accused a lot of ridiculous things -- causing Covid, causing cancer, causing autism. This article provides a list of 9 separate conspiracy…
- We Can #ConnectTribes to Broadband, and YOU Can Help! by Harold July 22, 2020 One of the unusual plot twists of this season on Spectrum Wars has been my agreeing more and more with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. For…
- S. Korea "Sender Pays" Is a Warning, Not a Model, or Why (Almost) Everyone Keeps Telling the EU This Is a VERY Bad Idea. by Harold October 14, 2022 Economist/NYT opinion writer Paul Krugman coined the term "Zombie idea" to describe an idea that, despite being repeatedly refuted with evidence, keeps coming back. Not…
- Breaking Down and Taking Down Trump's Executive Order Spanking Social Media. by Harold June 4, 2020 (A substantially similar version of this appeared first on the blog of my employer, Public Knowledge) It's hard to believe Trump issued this stupid Executive…
- Does SCOTUS EPA Case Impact Net Neutrality? Here’s Why I Say No. by Harold July 1, 2022 For most people, the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency was about environmental policy and what the Environmental Protection Agency can…
Thanks for writing this, John. On a weekend where it’s hard to know what to say, you’ve succinctly expressed what many of us are feeling.
There’s a We The People petition now to remove the US attorney who prosecuted Aaron Swartz’s case. While I get the anger at the system that would crush someone like Swartz (better expressed by Larry Lessig than I), there was more than one person responsible for that travesty, and there are uncountable people who’ve contributed to the altogether effed-up copyright culture that we have today.
So I don’t want to sign that revenge petition. But this very day, I went to the Creative Commons site to pick out a licensing scheme for a new project. (We’ve been using CC licenses at AE for nearly three years now, of course.) And, right above Aaron’s photograph on the home page, there was a banner saying that Creative Commons is turning 10, and that it would be a good time to make a donation. So I did (and was pleased to find that it was eligible for a matching donation from my employer). That feels a lot better to me.
Next to your post, I also liked this tweet in honor of Aaron Swartz. It seems like the best thing we can do is to try to nudge our world a little closer to that better universe.