If we want to stay on top, ensuring universal broadband access would seem a good place to start

(Also published at The Agonist)

I was surprised to learn that there are still wide swaths of rural America that don’t have broadband Internet access. Living in a large metropolitan area (Portland, OR) as I do, it’s easy to take broadband for granted (and evidently I do). I have it at home, it’s available at the airport, it’s available at every Starbucks and most coffee shops (that plan on staying in business), and many restaurants and other places of business. You have to work pretty hard in Portland to find a place where you can can’t access the Internet via wireless broadband, so, yeah, I do take it for granted. Imagine my shock to find out that there are still millions of Americans whose only access to da Interwebs is via a dialup connection.

Hello, the ’90s called; they want their Internet back….

Given the smaller, interconnected nature of the world today, no country that wants to be (or remain) an economic force to be reckoned with can afford a system which denies large segments of their population Internet access equal to what most of us take for granted. Broadband access is not just about speed, though that’s certainly a consideration. It’s about equality of opportunity and an equal opportunity to compete. In a world where time is still money (only on a much faster scale), trying to compete with a dial-up Internet connection is like stepping into the batter’s box at Yankee stadium wearing a Speedo and swinging a tree branch.

Memo to the GOP: This is what “infrastructure” is. It’s not about using government money on someone’s pet projects. It’s about making sure that Americans- ALL Americans (even the ones who don’t donate or vote Republican) have the ability to compete on a level playing field. The reality is that rural American still lacks uniform broadband coverage because private companies haven’t been able to make the required initial investment pencil out. Government is the only entity with the resources and the wherewithal to get projects rolling. This should be a no-brainer…except for Republicans and their penny-wise, pound-foolish myopia.

If we want to live in an America that isn’t lagging behind the rest of the world technologically, we need to be willing to embrace the investment in infrastructure required to keep up. If we’re OK with millions of Americans lacking broadband access, odds are that somewhere down the line, America will pay dearly for its lack of vision and foresight.

Penny wise and pound foolish: it really should be the GOP campaign slogan for 2012.