The Digital Rights Chronicles: Aaron Swartz
The Middle Ages had the fictional Robin Hood — we had the real Aaron Swartz
“He took the money from the rich and gave it to the poor.”
What a great hero, this Robin Hood. Even today, many of us dream of someone who simply redistributes the money.
This is an absolutely valid wish, considering that, according to an Oxfam study, the richest 1% of the world’s population own 63% of the world’s wealth and the remaining 99% can fight, starve, suffer and die for the 37% of the world’s remaining wealth. Some of us are lucky and make ends meet with our monthly allowance, but we all know how many people are not so fortunate. Even in Germany — a comparatively rich country — the number of people who can live on their monthly budget, even with deprivation, is falling. The number of hidden homeless people in Berlin has never been surveyed, but if you consider that even well-paid developers can’t find a flat here for a year and therefore find accommodation in Airbnbs, B&Bs etc. (I have this information from personal conversations) and as of August 2023, the number of food bank customers in Germany is at an unparalleled high of almost 2 million customers, with 38% of the food banks having to impose an admission freeze and 29% of the food banks…
