Rad Geek People's Daily

As leery as I am of the idea that hooking everyone to the Internet is all we need to solve all the economic problems, I do think that this program in Baltimore’s Section VIII housing [NY Times] to provide free computers and high-speed Internet access along with computer literacy training is a nice step in the right direction, and ought to be expanded. One quibble: why doesn’t the housing authority let the residents actually own the computers they give away? Of course, this is a problem that expands to the rental economy of the Section VIII system as a whole. What people in poverty really need is affordable housing that will be their own, not a shelter provided by the government that gives them a cheaper way into the system of rental exploitation.