And in the 2 years since this was published, this has turned out to be completely spot-on...OH WAIT. it hasn't at all.
Modern political discourse: Everything is a war on something.
This kind of language radicalizes people from the outset, and prevents a discussion from actually happening.
How about instead of calling it the "War on General Purpose Computing," "the War on Christmas," the "War on Women," the "War on Guns", heck, even the "War on Drugs," and the "War on Terror" - we take a step back, take a breather, and talk reasonably and calmly about the actual issues here?
I think it all boils down to the "War Over Control" where some people want to control other people.
Personally I think if Islamists/gun grabbers/drug dealers/child pornographers want to destroy our way of life then they need to do it themselves -- I'm not going to do it for them by enacting draconian, broad-sweeping, and baseless laws that delegate power to people with questionable motives (all in the name of "safety").
I think you are being a little disingenuous here. The title is designed to grab attention, as all headlines are. The article itself is measured and reasoned, as you'd expect form Doctorow. He does write fiction as well, so you'd expect him to choose a title that's going to make people pick up and read.
Modern political discourse: Everything is a war on something.
This kind of language radicalizes people from the outset, and prevents a discussion from actually happening.
How about instead of calling it the "War on General Purpose Computing," "the War on Christmas," the "War on Women," the "War on Guns", heck, even the "War on Drugs," and the "War on Terror" - we take a step back, take a breather, and talk reasonably and calmly about the actual issues here?
Because that wouldn't grab headlines.