Manifest Destiny
When Texas became independent from Mexico in
1836, many in Washington thought they should annex it to the United
States.
In
Manifest Destiny, John O'Sullivan wrote: "It is the right
of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of
the continent which Providence has given us for the development of
our great experiment of liberty and self government". [1]
In the '60s, Bob Dylan made fun of this idea with his song
With God On Our Side.
But our current prophets are very serious about it. Marc
Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and a famous venture capitalist,
said in 2011 that software is "eating the world". [2]
The prophets of the Internet of Things say that everything has to
be connected.
Jeff Jarvis believes that we have
an insane obsession towards privacy. [3]
Bruce Sterling is calling this line of thought "a Manifest Destiny
for Silicon". [4]
We are told that we should not question anything because things are
the way they are because our contemporary God, the Internet, has
decided that they ought to be that way.
[1]
Remini, Robert.
A Short History of the United States, Chapter 4.
[2]
Andreessen, Marc.
Why Software Is Eating the World.
[3]
Jarvis, Jeff.
Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way
We Work and Live.
[4]
Sterling, Bruce.
The Epic Struggle of the Internet of Things.
