Knowledge is a democratic right

A message from our Editorial Director Dear reader, Everywhere around the globe, knowledge is being locked away. After the Second World War, the dream of free universities gained great political traction; now public universities battle to prove their worth to governments and are forced to charge ever-higher fees. In the early part of our own century, the internet was a brief, shining utopia of free knowledge, where great magazines were open access, social media favoured publishers, and free courses proliferated on everything from cosmology to clinical psychology. Sure, the world is awash with ‘fast knowledge’. Somewhat like ‘fast fashion’, it is cheap, ephemeral and has dubious origins. At the same time, expert, thoughtful, carefully crafted information has become an elite consumer good. It’s available mostly to those who can afford costly subscriptions to paywalled publications or expensive tuition fees, or are lucky enough to have increasingly rare access to fine public libraries.  At Aeon, we will not give up on the idea that reliable, well-communicated knowledge about science, the self, the social world, about history, languages and culture should be available for everyone. Knowledge is not a luxury good. It is a democratic right. The reason we are able to produce beautifully crafted, expert-written work and make it free is simple: a tiny percentage of our monthly readers [donate]( so that millions of others can satisfy their curiosity and their desire to learn. Will you join those generous few with a donation today? It will mean the world to your fellow readers. [Support Aeon]( Brigid Hains Editorial Director You have received this email because you signed up to the Aeon Newsletter list. © Aeon Media Group Ltd 2024. Level 5, 100 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Australia. [PRIVACY POLICY]( |  [CONTACT US](  [PREFERENCES](  [UNSUBSCRIBE](