On May 28, 2:31 pm, Anivar Aravind <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Joseph C Mathew> to it either. But we cannot just bank on jobs outside
Joseph is with us when he admits that we cannot bank on *jobs outside*. I think we are extending this logic a little further and adding that - we also cannot bank on *opportunities outside* and most importantly - we need to protect *local opportunities*. (Lets not forget that by ten years we would have some 70 lakh people who have done their schooling in Free Software and that there will not be any land left if successive governments start negotiating for jobs after pledging or selling away the remaining land of Keralites.) If this is the site of contention, then the alternative has already been suggested at the Free Software discussion groups in Peru way back in late 90s, where they contended that processing of locally available information including public information (held with public agencies and Government) is the safest way out - a way which harms none. Our draft IT Policy is reflective of this trend. When it starts breathing life into it, when actions get underway, we will soon discover how Free Software can create local employment opportunities, without the need for exclusive spaces. For such a creative space to grow, citizens should be given more space to debate and discuss before decisions are made by governments. We are all aware that there are enough cost- effective methods available now where we can reduce the load of *representatives* from taking *risky decisions* (on-behalf) and put the representative on a new role as a *facilitator*. That way we will have a democracy which engages citizens more productively even as it disengages the representative from getting entangled in risky situations. With a rapidly changing economic environment, new laws, removal of restrictions, GATS, FDIs etc the whole terrain is in a turmoil. To claim that one can prove effectiveness in economic terms with such existing exclusive-space projects is a bit of an exaggeration. None of us are asking you to defend your position, all what some of us are asking is to have a debatable environment, before taking the plunge. (Lets not decide for others, if at all we decide for others - it should be to protect their own right to debate and decide for themselves.) CK Raju Thrissur --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ greenyouth mailinglist is the activist support mailinglist for kerala run by Global Alternate Information Applications (GAIA) To post to this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
