When a bushfire strikes, many different mechanisms swing into place to protect life and property. Brave firefighters rush to the fire front and seek to douse the flames. Others move ahead of the front, performing back-burning to hopefully stop the spread of the fire. People used to be told to leave their homes early, or stay and fight.
Last year’s Black Saturday fires in Victoria demonstrated that staying and fighting is only an option if you are properly prepared. If there is no time to leave, for years we were told to stay in our homes, that it was safer inside. Many people died following what the authorities told us was “the right thing to do”.
Let us swap it around a little though, shall we?
Bestiality has broken out on the internet. Some (seriously strange) people like it, but most people deplore it. This is much like a bushfire – some people get a kick out of it, but most people are terrified.
When bestiality breaks out, what do we do? Do we stay and fight or leave early, long before the problem ever affects us?
The proposed internet filter for Australia is “staying in your home” or “running away and leaving”. Everyone leaving that is. Running away from the problem, and hoping it goes away. The fire is still raging, uncontrolled, burning hectare after hectare.
However, racing to the fire front and seeking to put it out protects far more land, property, and life than letting it run rampant and hoping that it burns itself out.
Simply blocking “bad stuff” on the internet does not make it go away. The fire is still raging. Racing to the front, and destroying the “bad stuff” protects everyone, not just the people immediately in its path.
Now that the election has been called, it is our chance to make sure that the firefighters are properly equipped, reinforced, and ready for action. Let them be properly prepared to stay and fight.
Not ready to run away like cowards like the government proposes.
Deleting the “bad stuff” is dousing the flames. Routing hosts on the internet that contain “bad stuff” off of the internet is back burning. Running away or hiding in your home does nothing. The fire continues to rage outside.
Our government wants us to ignore the problem by shielding us from it. Is it not better to solve the problem?