Hiding in Plain Sight

     Jo(e)'s post was interesting, but the comments after it were even more so.  The post by Dr.K concerning how "information gets trivialized and made superficial by its instant, easy access" when it is put on the internet brought up memories from Folsom's article. Databases and blogs are unifiers in the sense that they open new doors to those who had limited access to their information before, but is this necessarily a good thing? As human beings we are defined by categories, and web-based information is breaking down the barriers that separate and define several classes of humans: the educated and the ignorant, the determined and the lazy, the curious and the ambivalent.  In breaking breaking down these barriers social classes are slowly but surely losing their definition and becoming unidentifiable, empty molds where only there name still remains.  I acknowledge that universal education is important, and that knowledge is something that cannot rightly be limited to those who can afford private schools and access to mysterious archives.  But we have to also acknowledge that the history of our world and society has been based on the fact that there has always been an upper class and a lower class, a group that has been shaped by money and education and culture, and one that has been shaped by hardship.  Ideally we look forward to absolute equality, but what would happen if that actually came about?  How much would our society be willing to expand its opportunities to make room for the massive population of former underpriveleged citizens?  Would total equality act in favor of our existence, or would it rock our world and shatter our infrastructure?