The Age of Assange

To think that Julian Assange is a terrorist against America is completely ridiculous; if for no other reason, than we are not the only country who has sensitive information being exposed by Wiki Leaks. If anything, he is more of a publisher and activist, than a terrorist.

The existence of this website is receiving far too much negative publicity from the media; although it is negative publicity, it is still publicity, and the media is simply fueling the fire of the issue, creating a much larger public curiosity and interest. On top of that, there is a huge distinction between leaking information and publishing it, as is explained on a blog by Mark Leccese on boston.com. Legally, it would be a different situation, had Assange himself found these government secrets and published them, which, unfortunately for those who wish to prosecute him, is not the case.

While it is true that some negative things have come from WikiLeaks, overall it is for the greater good of mankind. Although it (the truth) can be a harsh reality of our society, as we are being shown, it is necessary for the future to promote fairness, trust, and even world peace further down the road. As of today we may be seeing some negative effects of the site, such as the exposure of actual civilian death counts in Iraq, or the locations of spies. If we learn to adapt to this new reality, the benefits of being informed can outweigh the present day downside. For example, if a government knows that the locations of their spies could potentially be leaked to the country they are spying on, maybe they will not place the spies there in the first place. The concept of having governments around the globe being virtually transparent would do only one thing in the end; create world peace.

If big businesses think they are in jeopardy of having their secrets exposed, then it is likely they wont have secrets in the first place. Perhaps knowing the world is just not as secure as we once thought, may cause people to operate in a more ethical manner. Using Bank of America as an example; when shareholders heard about the potential issues surrounding the company and rumors began to swirl about secrets regarding potential mismanagement of funds, people got out, they sold their shares, all based on hearsay. Even though in this article on Business Insider, we are told exactly the opposite, that even though Assange does have documents from the bank, it is likely that they are not a big deal, and would not compromise the banks position. This is an interesting example of the affect the site has on people who pay attention to it. All it took was the mere potential for information to leak out, and people sold their shares and the stock prices dropped noticeably. That definitely says something about the amount of power the site now has, and that is something not likely to go away any time soon.

It is interesting that someone like Mark Zuckerburg, creator of Facebook gets recognized by some as “man of the year” for essentially showing (sharing) large corporation’s information about us. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, is Assange, and although recognized worldwide, he is continuously questioned ridiculed to no end as one of the worst men, for doing essentially the exact opposite; simply showing us information about large corporations. The site is open to the world and it leaks plenty of information about other countries including his home country of Australia, who still fully support him and realize hes not the one telling these secrets, simply publishing them online, as is discussed in an article from The Australian. Could it be possible Americans just cares the most because we have the most secrets to hide?

As an incredibly diverse planet, full of different political views and motives for power and control, countries everywhere are better off adapting to the benefits or downfalls of modern technology. Regardless of the greatest efforts, there will always be whistle blowers, a.k.a. snitches, who will make it known when people are doing the wrong thing. Wiki Leaks could prove to be much more beneficial for the future of the world if it were looked at as a potential tool, rather than a threat.

Preferring to remain in the dark about secrets regarding major corporations, and organizations, including the United States government is foolish and ignorant, because we are the ones funding these secret activities, and yet we don’t know anything about them. It is that which motivates Assange to keep the site going as he discusses in this interview. While he does not go into very great detail, he makes it clear that his true motives are for people to be informed about what is happening around them.

Overall, what Assange really wants is for people to ask questions, and for those who ask questions, to be provided with the answers they are seeking; he wants the common citizen, of any country, to be informed, and that is the foundation of what our American society was built on. We should be the last ones to criticize. This concept and the goals of WikiLeaks are discussed in this online blog about foreign policies.