Here, I'm finally transferring this from my personal blog to the school blog.

Dear Studs Terkel,

In your brief interview for the Story Corps, you lamented the loss of the “human voice” in today’s society. You alluded (through your mention of the prerecorded train announcements) that the Voice of humanity is being replaced by the mechanization of computers. The thing is, I think you’re wrong. Unless we, as a race evolve quite drastically, the human voice could never really be gone. I believe that. I hear people complaining, nowadays, about the frequency of text messaging, online communities, the ridiculous language used, but I think they are misunderstanding of how humanity fits into this new world of technology. Technology does not replace humanity – it simply creates a new outlet for humanity. Is the human voice less human because it lives in a metropolis and not a rural small town? The song sung may be different, but it is the same body as sings it. Was it lessened by the fact that it found it could express itself in written words and mass-produced magazines? You died only last year, so I am sure you have encountered the internet, but I am not sure if you got to know it like I do. I love the internet. people are loud, rude, thoughtful, demeaning, demeaning, inventive, base, foolish, friendly, emotional, and unguarded on the internet. The technology has not, as some feared, zombified the modern human, an taken away his basic nature. Rather, it has created a new outlet for out nature, a new, virtual plain in which to practice culture. I think you would be heartened to read the intelligent blogs posted by various laymen in their free time. I think you would be amused to follow some of the heated and completely ridiculous fights on youtube. There is an argument there which I have been following. It spans across many videos and comments threads. What is it about? Two people each accusing each other of being the same individual – this youtube troll who leaves offensive messages on various videos. They are deep in debating, each contending that the other is this troll. Maybe they are both troll, maybe they are m=both innocent. Maybe they are actually one person, arguing with himself from two different accounts. It doesn’t matter – they are so quintessentially human – as ridiculous and bawdy and mean as Kid Pharaoh. But the internet is not just a slum for characters. It is a powerful tool for organization. It is not something to be ignored, and, widely unregulated as it still is, it is the people’s tool. Our latest election was run in large on the internet, and to great results – the voter turnout was greater than ever before in history. The human voice, and the good it can do when self disciplined, is alive and well.

Love, Maga