Table of Contents

This is a book of hope—and fire. It is set in the modern-day version of William Tyndale’s Monsterverse. Every age has had its evil—and history shows us that tuning into that evil is central to succeeding in acting against it.

What is knowledge if it isn't true and verifiable? The Encyclopédie project of the original Enlightenment tackled this question with extraordinary ambition and accomplishment, paving the way for one of today's greatest free resources, Wikipedia.

The architecture of totalitarian thought control is nefarious, and the Soviet system executed that design to perfection. Chilling perfection. Or almost.

Video lies at the heart of the modern Enlightenment, now a new Republic of Images.

Today, said President Lyndon Johnson, “we rededicate a part of the airwaves—which belong to all the people—and we dedicate them for the enlightenment of all the people.”

"'They should take the business of guidance in this new world as a sacred trust, knowing they have the power to influence an enormous democracy.'”

It may be time to update the Terms of Service contracts - the social contracts - under which we operate. Information is born free, yet everywhere it finds itself in chains.

On Wikipedia, the Internet Archive, and what MIT's Sanjay Sarma calls the Ziggurat of Facts.

About the myriad unhealthy dependencies on commercial enterprises that our knowledge institutions have developed. And the responsibility we have to engage with free and liberal licenses, and free and open standards, for our content, our software, and our work.

It is no accident that the etymology of the word “archive” comes from the Greek ἄρχω—“to begin, rule, govern”—and thus no accident that “archive” shares the same root as the words “monarch” and “hierarchy.”

We have to convene more regular conversations, publish more systematic financial and legal analyses, produce more frequent programming, curate more substantial exhibitions, and teach more detailed courses about restoring our control over the information economy.