Too bad so many people snooze their way through 20th Century American History class.

Part 2 of the series deals with progressivism in a version considerably more sober, sane, and accurate over Glenn Beck’s scrambled egg version, and Part 3 deals with the lessons FDR learned as New York’s governor that helped make the New Deal Rural Electrification projects (and the Tennessee Valley Authority) possible.

What was especially interesting is the overarching element of social transformation which was actually a planned outcome of electrification. It led directly to all of the small electrics and appliances we take for granted today, but also made possible sweeping changes in the middle class, right down to making suburban living possible and home ownership practical.

I sense broadband can do similar things — especially changing the way we’ll work in a digital economy. Since we never seem to manufacture anything anymore, why require employees to pack themselves into cubicle farms when much the same work can be performed from home offices leveraging better broadband? That can reduce fossil fuel usage, reduce demand for road expansion, change social dynamics of families, and much more.

Or, Time Warner Cable will slap a 40GB usage cap on everyone, Comcast will throttle non-preferred broadband applications, and Frontier will drive everyone to text-based web pages and e-mail on their 5GB allowance. I’m not hard pressed to decide which is more important — social transformation or fat profits for big cable.

You might also find fascinating the story of the railroad industry and its impact on one town’s economy at the turn of the 20th century. Lots to compare with today’s monopolistic pricing games for broadband:

http://stopthecap.com/2010/02/16/taken-for-a-ride-on-the-free-market-railroad-the-robber-baron-era-of-broadband/

Here is a public-domain picture from 1913, encouraging the adoption of electricity for lighting.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2616369192/sizes/o/

–Robb