OCCUPY WALL STREET

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

I must have missed this argument. Why do you and Aj believe no one else has a right to take over any public space?

I never said that. I think that people DO have the right to take over ANY public space at any time of their choosing. That's what makes it public. I do *not* think people have a right to take over a private space. I would go further, I think we should use the idea of public space to our advantage.

One of the most expensive parts of a political campaign is getting air time. It costs a lot. Here's the thing, though, we *own* the air waves and we *own* the right-of-way that the cable companies use to lay fiber. That's ours. The satellites that are in orbit beaming CNN to you everyday was lifted with the heavy space-lift capacity of the United States. NASA put those satellites up there, not Ted Turner or Rupert Murdoch. So since the media companies have used public resources, I think they should pay it back in the following form. During an election cycle, as part of a condition of their license, all broadcast media is obliged to carry debates and campaign ads gratis. That turns down the volume for having to raise such god-awful amounts of money to get a television spot in the middle of prime time. Without our public right-of-way and heavy-lift capacity and the FCC regulating how powerful your broadcast tower can be so channel 3 can't just overwhelm channel 5 with a more powerful signal, none of the media companies would be profitable. So since we make it possible for them to be profitable, they should do something by way of saying 'thank you'. Carrying our elections for free is a great way to show gratitude.

Cheers
Aj