A gentle decline
Persuading legislators that an unfettered highspeed internet is still in the country's best interest may require making clear that the U.S. is in an infrastructure crisis.
Back in 1996, the idea of the “information superhighway” and the immense potential of online business led us to adopt this language in the Communications Act:
b) POLICY- It is the policy of the United States–
(1) to promote the continued development of the Internet and other interactive computer services and other interactive media;
(2) to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet and other interactive computer services, unfettered by Federal or State regulation;
(3) to encourage the development of technologies which maximize user control over what information is received by individuals, families, and schools who use the Internet and other interactive computer services…
That “vibrant and competitive free market” depended on a regulated infrastructure of connectivity. It's not a binary, zero-sum-game choice — we can have a rich world of competitive services, but that competition may require a baseline set of access conditions to be in place. In Manhattan, there are streets that are heavily regulated, but no one tells the local Vietnamese restaurant what dishes to serve.
The current crisis in infrastructure support isn't limited to online access — we're falling behind on many infrastructural measures, even as we say how proud we are of the innovation that happens here. We have a great future behind us.
PhD candidates from other countries are finding it so difficult to be admitted to the country that they're staying home. Public education is in crisis. We don't have a replacement for Bell Labs, we don't know how basic research is going to be funded, and we label outsourcing to other countries as un-American, even though people in those other places speak English better than we do and work harder.
We're becoming European — defensive, proud, and insular. Short-term results are all that matter. Meeting quarterly targets, or getting re-elected, is the center of our collective concern, and it's almost impossible to invoke a long-term vision about anything without being labeled as hopelessly “academic” (an imprecation these days). Infrastructure is by nature a long-term play, and we're moving downwards in the ranks.
It's hard to see this crisis; it's made up of a million incremental steps. But it's happening. The terrible state of broadband penetration in this country is just a visible symptom. The solution isn't going to be found in short-term market players who have every reason to act monopolistically (and uniformly bad track records). The people who lead us need to recognize that this country is steadily declining, and that pride in our former accomplishments won't save us. We need vision, and we need it now.