Julian Assange has a flair for PR sensation. His hair-dos and outfits always giving him the air of hybrid of The Matrix’s character Neo and an international reporter or adventurer on a mission. On the other side of the media war being waged, the institutional stiffness of the electric blue suits of Hillary Clinton, the grey dull faces of countless bureaucrats calling for his arrest, or even the sadistic grins of conservative pundits calling for Assange’s assassination on the air. We have a perfect cast for the Robin Hood story of the information age.
OK, you may not agree with my view of this new media drama but you can’t disagree that the argument is very “dramatic” indeed and rarely rational in nature. I agree with some Assange’s inclinations in that he does seems to want to defend the average citizen from what he perceives as institutional control of all information. I am not sure I agree with the methods anymore though. What threw me off was his big announcement of yet another leak on banks to come in a few days yesterday. Regardless of how important this leak will be, regardless of whether or not Wikileaks should leak it, I felt he had just lost an opportunity to create consensus rather than more fear and antagonistic reactions. He could have instead capitalized on the sympathy much of th public and some of the elites who felt the justice system has unjustly and sometimes illegally or violently dealt with him so far. I felt he started to miss the solution to the societal challenges he has highlighted by his work so far. I now feel he offers no real solutions.
Let’s backtrack a little. The Wikileaks phenomenon could not exist without a fertile ground of mystery around much of what our western democracies’ leaders and armies do in our names abroad. There will always be a need for confidentiality around wars and international diplomacy. Can anyone really disagree rationally. How could D-day be mounted to end WWII in total transparency for instance? But since the Patriot Act and the start of the Iraq war, the gap between the public’s perceptions and the reality of what is done and said in our name abroad has widened dangerously. It doesn’t take very long and hard look to detect the discrepancies between the justification given for war for instance and the actual actions taken by forces on the ground especially if you read comparatively media from two different countries. The public doesn’t necessarily go this far in their quest for truth but, over time, a sense of dissonance between what is said and what is done by our leaders appears to everyone. Some choose to blame it on Washington’s deal-making culture, democrat communism leanings, or dangerous dictatorial republican tendencies, etc. All in all tough, the simple fact is that everyone feels a bit manipulated one way or another. This is the perfect fertile ground on which a well orchestrated campaign of revelations like the Wikileaks revelations will grow in outsize proportions. Maybe it’s even needed since these revelations seem mostly true and genuine and these new truths are gradually plugging a lot of “holes” left by our government excessive secrecy, thereby cutting the air supply to the conspiracy theorists that thrive in the land of doubt and disinformation.
However, it seems that Julian Assange has an unprecedented opportunity to address the real issues with some suggestions for solutions rather than constant hopeless call for outrage at government tactics. If I could talk to him right now, here is what I would tell him and which I share with you, the readers, in attempt to start this debate on the grounds where I believe it really belongs:
“Julian,
Thanks for all you’ve done in the name of truth. You have shown unusual skills in your ramping up of this campaign and you have inspired many, including me, in your crusade for freedom of expression.
Please don’t forget that strength at rational thinking and knowledge is not enough to make sense of this world though. Human beings are essentially social in their essence. Society doesn’t work like a computer system. It’s a mix of system thinking and humanistic aspirations alone that makes all great revolutionaries. You need more of the second in my opinion. If you had honestly considered all the consequences of your absolutist crusade for transparency, you would have probably addressed a whole host of problem that you have not mentioned so far:
- Wouldn’t you agree that the same Internet anonymity techniques that have allowed Wikileak’s work can be used by criminals for reprehensible acts?
- How do you propose to avoid that Wikileaks is not used for public opinion manipulation in the future with fake leaks and allegations which Wikileaks or other media organizations won’t be able to dispel or authenticate?
- How do you propose to avoid that governments use the above dangers to strongly over-regulate the Internet (se Hadopi example in France)?
Please consider these questions carefully and tell me if you don’t think they are not worthy of a democratic debate? Regards,
Dan”