Jarek wrote:
I think that "giving" cannot be equated with "empowering."
Sure, giving is neither synonymous with nor sufficient for empowerment. But to suggest that because of this program "a global divide...will emerge" (as if it didn't exist now) suggests that giving is DISempowering, which is quite a leap - and, on balance, almost certainly backwards.
Thus "inequality" and "stratification" are by default wrong and harmful in this context.
That doesn't follow at all. The insufficiency of giving does not produce or enhance inequality. And the empirical consequences of giving, whatever they are, are unrelated to a normative evaluation of stratification (or anything else) as "wrong", since facts imply nothing about values. But, to follow your argument anyway: If inequality and stratification are by default wrong, and providing hardware somehow increases inequality, is the solution to maintain (even extend) differences in hardware access? -eg