John Locke and the Internet

It's not VP Al Gore, or Gov. Howard Dean. Arnold Kling at TCS says The Real Internet Candidate is John Locke

For Locke, political power is a contract among consenting adults. We want to live in a society in which we have rights to life and property. We consent to form a government that enforces those rights. We are not children, and government is not a parent.

Locke's philosophy of government influenced our Constitution, which was designed to keep central authority down to minimum functions. Over time, the Constitution's limitations on government powers have been eviscerated, and most people have become accustomed to the nanny state.

The Internet architecture reminds me of the Constitution. It is designed as an agreement among responsible, consenting adults rather than as a paternalistic regulatory regime. In my opinion, the political figure who best "gets" the Internet is John Locke.