问答题
The free thing does bother me. Not because I think good-quality
content ought to exist only for those who can afford it but because, for my
sons' generation, the knowledge that things are freely available to anyone
with half a brain is combined with the most extraordinary sense of entitlement.
{{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{U}}As combinations go, it's a
slightly alarming one: free stuff plus a complete lack of familiarity with the
concept of hard work being necessary in order to achieve your ambitions{{/U}}. Add
to this the fact that the economic situation means we are handing on a terrible
financial burden to the younger generation and you don't have to be unusually
imaginative to see that our children are likely to find themselves in a serious
mess. {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{U}}Those
truths are more uncomfortable still when you relate them with the fact that the
generation that's going to be picking up the pieces will have grown up not
caring much for other people's ownership.{{/U}} You may not be losing any sleep
over some big fat film company or some already super-rich band being robbed of
astronomical amounts by young people who know their way round a keyboard.
{{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{U}}Even though you may not find this
universal theft morally upsetting, the fact is that what it teaches-that
ownership is neither here nor there-has serious consequences once this
generation is forced to deal with its parents' generation's economic
mess-ups.{{/U}} Extend the question of ownership's irrelevance
and you find it results in people whose work is stolen, passed around for free.
{{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{U}}I quite liked it when having money
to go to the movies when you were 16 happened only because you had a Saturday
job; or when Saturday iob meant you could go and buy the record you'd longed for
all week{{/U}}. What need is there for a Saturday job when the movies come to your
bedroom for free; when the record is available in seconds for nothing? Your
parents feed and clothe you; the state educates you; and everything else is
there for the taking. {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}}
{{/U}}{{U}}At one level this is thrilling in that all the information and knowledge
in the universe is there for everyone, free, to make their brain bigger and
their curiosity boundless{{/U}}. At another, less exalted level it means it's
never been easier to sit doing nothing, waiting to gobble up other people's
stuff. It seems quite a lot of people are choosing option B. Plenty of free
stuff, yes. But you do wonder: who's really the mug?