So, there was this thing called the Affordable Connectivity Program, and it’s the reason that many people in this country had internet connectivity at home (in some cases for the first time):
The ACP, or the Affordable Connectivity Program, was a government initiative established in 2021 to provide subsidies for internet access to low-income households. Eligible households could receive up to $30 per month (or $75 on tribal lands) to help cover the cost of internet service. The program was funded by Congress with $14.2 billion as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
I had my AI assistant Pi summarize it, but I wasn’t going to pass off AI writing as my own, because it’s against my personal policy to do that. I wanted it summarized, without having to take all the time to actually do it myself, because summarizing ACP isn’t what i’m entirely trying to do with this blog post. I do what the reader to know what it is, though.
I figure, with COVID making the internet so important to social distancing for working people, and especially students, that the government wanted to make it possible for more people to connect, to what is definitely not a luxury (and hasn’t been in a long time). Look at that shit, the government doing something decent for people that live in the US, that’s so cool of them.
Well, I have some bad news for you…and me (who can’t afford home internet). We’re Gonna have Pi summarize that too:
Unfortunately, the ACP is set to end in April 2024, unless Congress provides additional funding. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has begun taking steps to wind down the program, as the initial funding is expected to run out by then. Despite efforts to extend the program, including a request for additional funding from President Biden and a proposed bill in Congress, the future of the ACP remains uncertain.
This is a significant development for the many households that have benefited from the program, as well as those who may have relied on it for affordable internet access in the future.
So, I had been getting free internet since moving into Supportive Housing in December. wow it’s been about six months! Supportive Housing includes most utilities, but not internet. That’s right, I just clumped internet in the category of things known as utilities, because it’s 2024, bro. The internet is not optional in terms of getting by in modern society. Why wouldn’t the government continue to fund ACP?
Why are we sending billions of dollars for Israel to mass murder Palestinian children before we consider the well-being of our own citizens? we don’t even have universal health care, yet we can afford to sink billions of dollars into a maniacally genocidal regime (who’s citizens do have universal health care).
This reminds me of a tweet I saw today:
Whenever there’s discussion about anything like policy, someone is always bringing up the children.
“wont someone think of the children?”
Maybe that’s just Mrs. Lovejoy from The Simpsons, but I’m going to bring up the children, at this time… right here. I think it’s time we all get down to the fact that the government doesn’t give a fuck about any of us or our future. Even the people that claim to be pro-life, don’t give a fuck about a living thing on this earth.
I know i’m a 38 year old blogger, but you’re going to have to take a little trip with me, from my losing internet at some yet unknown time…to the fact that this country is making very few investments into the future for the people that have to inhabit it.
I’m just going to say it: the boomers fucked my generation royally, already. why do you think so many of us are choosing not to reproduce? we are the first generation to be financially worse off than the one before us. That’s not just me bitching about losing my internet:
The Pew Research Center has done extensive research on the financial challenges faced by Millennials.
Here’s the link to the report: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/most-americans-say-there-is-too-much-economic-inequality-in-the-u-s-but-fewer-than-half-call-it-a-top-priority/
Think about the kids that aren’t going to have access to the internet, to help them with their education. They are going to be at a disadvantage; that’s the connection I want to make between the end of ACP, and our country’s lack of investment in anything other than the military or prison industrial complex.
It’s called fucking infrastructure, stupid. We are going to get smoked by literally every other country during the next 50 years, because we don’t invest in infrastructure. shhhh… don't say it too loud, people will freak, but that absolutely means China, too.
We have the fossil fuel industry so far up our ass, that we even make the investment in green energy technology that everyone needs to be making, since the environment a disaster already, and climate change is about to become a huge fucking problem, for a very large number of people.
Of course, I’m fucking angry. Not just because I depend on the internet for everything. I’m angry because those of you that came here before us, just simply wanted to get rich…and fuck the future.
So, fuck me, right? thanks so much. I didn’t need an inhabitable planet with bridges, roads, trains, and the internet, anyway.
Please, Contact your representatives in Congress (both your senators and your representative in the House) and let them know that you support the continuation of the ACP. You can find their contact information on their official websites or on websites like Congress.gov.
https://www.digitalinclusion.org/
I didn’t mention all the other ways that this country doesn’t care about it’s children, because honestly, assault rifle control is a whole separate post in itself. I just can’t today, i’m already too bummed out for today.
I’m so broke, man, fuck: https://ko-fi.com/evr0ck17
