I applied and stated that I already own it. I got no reply. Anyone with
the same experience? They seem to view this perhaps as a marketing
strategy to get Britannica sold and as a main reference in ‘Wikis’,
de facto as thé reference. We should surpass the standard Britannica sets,
especially as the post about “Citizendium is different” indicates,
a democratisation of knowledge. Be also aware that Britannica,
even for it’s excellence, is biased to a western frame of mind.
Citizendium should move beyond this barrier.

Furthermore we should consider the obligation and moral responsibility
we have to bring education in its broadest sense to all of humanity at a
cost each could afford, even for those who cannot get a formal
education. Projects like Eduzendium is a good start, but could have the
main focus not at increasing Citizendium’s content, but the education of
all. The content will come by itself, like the philanthropists mentioned elsewhere.
Most of western tertiary educational institutions have become dependent on
corporate financing, thereby slanting its efforts to get people
‘trained’ for industry and commerce. Rather, we should work together
with projects like one laptop per child (OLPC ) and universal flaterate
internet hotspots for all, free wifi for all in larger communities and cities
(like Paris and San Francisco) and free access over mobile networks in
rural communities in Africa, South America and Asia.
I grew up in Africa, which experiences a boom in communication by
mobile phones for very remote areas where no one will ever lay cables
and provide landline telecommunication access, theoretically making
internet available to almost all of humanity. Affordability is still a problem.

Ultimately I wish to work toward a tertiary education for all, an ‘open
source education’. No one should be prevented from the highest available
education he/she can master, just because they can’t afford it or live
in too remote areas (i.e. a closed source education). Those who can
afford it may pay, those who can’t shouldn’t; nobody must - it is a
human responsibility of all to carry the burden together; social
justice?. Paying for education is just another frontier of human
oppression by others who have no natural rights to be more privileged
than any other human being to reach their highest potential, like
apartheid and slavery was. I believe Citizendium can be one element to
address this need of liberating people from ‘illiteracy’. I am aware of
using an ideological language here, do it intentionally because it
should inflame our conscience and liberate us from the general
‘innocence’ we in affluent western cultures have. We need to say
farewell to our innocence (”Farewell to Innocence” ISBN 0-88344-130-6,
Title of a remarkable dissertation by Alan Busak against apartheid,
which also liberated me from my innocence as oppressor).
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0883441306/ref=dp_olp_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1209720885&sr=11-1]

My warmest regards and thanking you all for the great work you all do in
Citizendium (CZ = freedom from Wikipedia innocence),
Lando L Lehmann (also posted in CZ:Forum)

I just sent you an e-mail to see if you are still waiting to hear from Britannica. If so, I apologize. Please reply to my e-mail or write to webshare@eb.com and we’ll get you your subscription.

Best,
Tom Panelas (at Britannica)