Assange the Latest
Fall Guy for Crimes of World's Power Elite
"WikiLeaks and the Internet guerrillas who are fighting for that organization are indispensable. States and their institutions will have to earn back the confidence of the citizenry. But in order for that to happen, politicians must first stop responding in a fit of pique when the media confronts them with their true image, rather than the image invented by their public relations people."
The battle surrounding
WikiLeaks is generating genuine tsunamis, and the debate is taking some bewildering
turns. Personal attacks on Julian Assange are being used to justify the notion
that WikiLeaks is generally bad and that the loss of confidence in politics is
the fault of those who reveal the crimes and embarrassments of the powerful, rather
than those who committed those crimes.
WikiLeaks is a hot topic and
will remain so. The arrest of Julian Assange won't do a thing to change that. Assange
may well be the face of WikiLeaks, the representative who stepped into the
public eye; however, he is no more WikiLeaks than George Clooney is the manufacturer
of Nespresso or Audrey Tautou the person
who mixes perfume for Chanel.
The accusation
being put forward by governments and adopted by some journalists, that while exposing
governments Assange isn't open enough in regard to his private life, is
complete idiocy. With the exception of the veracity of documents published by
WikiLeaks, Assange isn't accountable - unlike governments - for how he wastes
taxpayer money, incites wars, tortures prisoners, violates constitutional
rights and falsifies the results of investigations. He simply hasn't done any
of these things. States have duties and responsibilities and are accountable to
their citizens - and they are increasingly shameless in their neglect of these
responsibilities.
The brave new world of
information has delivered into the hands of governments and their secret
services brand new toys for surveillance, deception and manipulation. At the
same time, multinational companies have expanded their influence in politics to
an all-time high. The exercise of power has become more opaque and, last but
not least, lobbying groups are making sure that the boundaries between economic
and political interests disappear even further. Meanwhile, many media companies,
whether for financial reasons or for reasons related to the conflict of
interests of owners, dispense with investigative journalism and the great
effort and expense that it entails. This is a dream of those in power that threatens
to become a reality.
In fighting for their
Internet privacy and demanding that WikiLeaks be banned, many governments, large
banks and multinational organizations are now asking citizens to trust them. However,
those governments, banks and organizations have gambled away the last remnants
of such trust. It is now emerging that many relevant operations continue to be covered
up and kept secret. Not because disclosure would damage the state itself, but
because it would be inconvenient, unpleasant, embarrassing, or even threatening
to the coveted positions of those in power.
That’s why at this very moment,
WikiLeaks and the Internet guerrillas who are fighting for that organization
are indispensable. States and their institutions will have to earn back the confidence
of the citizenry. But in order for that to happen, politicians must first stop
responding in a fit of pique when the media confronts them with their true
image, rather than the image invented by their public relations people. They would
finally have to learn what it is to behave with decency toward their
constituents, which would have to be reflected by their actions. Sure, that’s asking
a lot of the world’s power elite. But if it’s possible for WikiLeaks to achieve
this with additional disclosures, perhaps humanity can advance one huge step
further.
