"One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a non-profit association dedicated to research to develop a $100 laptop—a technology that could revolutionize how we educate the world's children. This initiative was launched by faculty members at the MIT Media Lab. It was first announced by Lab co-founder Nicholas Negroponte, now chairman of OLPC, at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland in January 2005."

Website: http://laptop.media.mit.edu/

“'One laptop per child' is a concept. It is an education project, not a laptop project. It can be implemented in more than one way, by no means limited to the embodiment of the OLPC non-profit association’s so-called ‘$100 Laptop.’ The argument for olpc is simple: many children—especially those in rural parts of developing countries—have so little access to school—in some cases just a tree—that building schools and training teachers is only one way—perhaps the slowest way—to alleviate the situation. While such building programs and teacher education must not stop, another and parallel method advised by OLPC is to leverage the children themselves by engaging them more directly in their own learning. It may sound implausible to equip the poorest children with connected laptops when rich children may not have them, but it is not. Laptops can be affordable and children are more capable than they are given credit for."

OLPC Wiki - http://wiki.laptop.org/go/One_Laptop_per_Child

It can justifiably be asked - why put the OLPC program in opposition to military spending and the Wall St. bailout? Isn't the only thing they have in common is that they both cost money? For example, couldn't the same point be made, that if everyone drank one less beer, or drove less miles, or spent less on tennis shoes, the same budgetary shortfalls could be overcome? The point is - if there is a will, there's a way. If enough people cared enough about putting a laptop in the hand of every child on the planet, it would happen. Otherwise, what is the rush? After all, there are so many other issues in the developing world - basic food supplies, clean water, electricity, transportation infrastructure, literacy, health care, jobs, and so forth, who is to say that OLPC is even a top priority in those environments? While being sympathetic to those arguments, it seems to me the issues are linked. We need not only opposition to war, and a change of policy, but also positive alternatives that can make a real improvement and grow with time. OLPC is one of the most powerful ideas I have encountered that can really change the world. It becomes even more powerful as a symbol of transformation from the political thinking which led to Iraq and the economic meltdown, as a new way of investing collective resources, with compassion, giving priority and attention to the lives of the poorest children of the world.

For sure, even without a cent of government spending or influence, the project could be put into effect. Intel, Microsoft, and other IT companies have invested billions in the developing world in education and infrastructure. The logistics of the program creates other issues: transportation, distribution, teacher training, security, educational facilities, upgrades, etc. that balloon even the technological investment multifold. Indeed, the best way to implement OLPC is in integration with other development programs that address the needs of the communities involved. Nobody likes the "redistribution of income," it seems, and generation after generation around the world lives in abject poverty while the rich get richer, the middle classes worry about their personal security, their bills, new gadgets, lawn care, and so forth. The challenges of the world's poor, over a billion living and raising their families on less than a dollar a day, is so massive, and so removed from the day to day reality of the suburban living room, dvd, or video game, it really doesn't matter much - other than a wishful thought, we all want things to be better, don't we? That is why OLPC is so important - it is something that can be done now, its implementation, if undertaken in a way that truly leaves no child left behind, in a way that goes hand in hand with other programs to develop the world's poorest communities, could be one of the most important acts of our time. It also offers a positive alternative for Western countries like America looking for a way out of their own geo-political past. Which is why the point has to be made that the cost of the war in Iraq could have been used to fund this program, and that the Wall St. bailout proceeded so quickly where attempts to address global poverty have lingered. It is a choice, and a question of priorities that need to be changed.

OLPC Website: http://www.laptp.org/
OLPC Wiki: http://wiki.laptop.org/

Note: the title in this instance, "OLPC - A Global Alternative to War?" refers not only to the budgetary choices that empower the war machine and the mindset behind it, but also to the positive vision of a generation of the world's children living in interconnection, communicating without borders, building their future together, through digital sharing. These are the roots of a techno-utopia, and an antidote to the way that technological resources have been co-opted by the military-industrial complex internationally.