Post by mikewe116 on Dec 5, 2012 0:00:00 GMT -5
When a society loses its right to free speech though the most versatile of mediums, the Internet, the unrestricted flow of opinions and facts languishes. This stagnation, per se, is the result of arbitrary censorship forced upon a canvas of expression by governments anxiously trying to prevent the public form observing their self-defiance. The World Wide Web is no longer a volatile luxury obtainable to a privileged few, but more so a liaison between the ineffable philosophical world of knowledge and tangible humanity. Its role in modern civilization makes it seem like an impervious source of information from which all people may take and share information as they please, yet a privileged few seem to take it upon themselves to limit creative expressionism and freedom of knowledge.
A recent unfolding of events pertaining to an advocate for Internet freedom, Julian Assange, has caused considerable controversy due to the nature of the case. Assange is the editor-in-chief, and one of the founders of WikiLeaks, an Internet based database annexing and making available classified documents leaked to them by anonymous donors. Despite the constitutionality of his actions, Assange is currently residing inside of an Ecuadorian embassy in the U.K. with the fear of imminent extradition to Sweden where he faces a framing ploy of alleged sexual harassment charges, only further exacerbated by the trepidation of being extradited to the United States.
Despite the obvious complexity of this case, Assange is in many ways a modern day Proctor. They are both men with great virtues; the ones who are strong on the inside and who refuse to succumb to the tyranny of consensus, in both cases in the form of their governing bodies. Both are questioned and refuse to fall victim to the tyranny, while their microcosms spin around them and wait for their move. Proctor could have ended the tyranny with just his signature, his scribbled name on a piece or parchment, yet he did not due to self-respect. Assange now faces the same situation that harbors his internal enigma, of whether to repent against his activism of Internet freedom and creativity, or to go on with a mission he was endowed with by the victims of censorship and advocates for its elimination.
Irrationally locked away in semi-safety inside of the Ecuadorian embassy, Assange currently suffers from a lung infection attributed to being bottled up for so long. He cannot go anywhere because her is an animal in captivity subject to the tyranny of consensus despite his every effort to avoid it. His suffering of being treated like a rodent shows to what extent governments are willing to go to, in order to keep “uncomfortable” individuals silenced. Hathorne and Danforth admitted to being wrong yet protected themselves from embarrassment by continuing with hangings. The United States government has declared Assange and WikiLeaks enemies to the state and refuses to admit that they are wrong in classifying information that should be public. Assange has gone as far as calling the actions of the United States government a “witch-hunt”, a result of their clear desire to protect their reputation by implementing tyrannical laws and hiding the truth to prevent awkward confrontations by the people. In other words, revelation is not a comfortable solution to either of these governments and the individuals that they govern not only dis-benefit from their tyrannical behaviors, but are also affected by the detriments caused by the lack of justice and freedom. There is much to learn from the outspoken critics because generally, they have to most captivating things to say, things that will someday silence the oppression of governments.
Word Count: 600
Works Consulted:
Horowitz, Alana. "Julian Assange: U.S. Must End 'Witch Hunt' Against Wikileaks." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Aug. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.
"Democracy Now! Exclusive: Assange on WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, Cypherpunks, Surveillance State." ArtsJournal. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.
A recent unfolding of events pertaining to an advocate for Internet freedom, Julian Assange, has caused considerable controversy due to the nature of the case. Assange is the editor-in-chief, and one of the founders of WikiLeaks, an Internet based database annexing and making available classified documents leaked to them by anonymous donors. Despite the constitutionality of his actions, Assange is currently residing inside of an Ecuadorian embassy in the U.K. with the fear of imminent extradition to Sweden where he faces a framing ploy of alleged sexual harassment charges, only further exacerbated by the trepidation of being extradited to the United States.
Despite the obvious complexity of this case, Assange is in many ways a modern day Proctor. They are both men with great virtues; the ones who are strong on the inside and who refuse to succumb to the tyranny of consensus, in both cases in the form of their governing bodies. Both are questioned and refuse to fall victim to the tyranny, while their microcosms spin around them and wait for their move. Proctor could have ended the tyranny with just his signature, his scribbled name on a piece or parchment, yet he did not due to self-respect. Assange now faces the same situation that harbors his internal enigma, of whether to repent against his activism of Internet freedom and creativity, or to go on with a mission he was endowed with by the victims of censorship and advocates for its elimination.
Irrationally locked away in semi-safety inside of the Ecuadorian embassy, Assange currently suffers from a lung infection attributed to being bottled up for so long. He cannot go anywhere because her is an animal in captivity subject to the tyranny of consensus despite his every effort to avoid it. His suffering of being treated like a rodent shows to what extent governments are willing to go to, in order to keep “uncomfortable” individuals silenced. Hathorne and Danforth admitted to being wrong yet protected themselves from embarrassment by continuing with hangings. The United States government has declared Assange and WikiLeaks enemies to the state and refuses to admit that they are wrong in classifying information that should be public. Assange has gone as far as calling the actions of the United States government a “witch-hunt”, a result of their clear desire to protect their reputation by implementing tyrannical laws and hiding the truth to prevent awkward confrontations by the people. In other words, revelation is not a comfortable solution to either of these governments and the individuals that they govern not only dis-benefit from their tyrannical behaviors, but are also affected by the detriments caused by the lack of justice and freedom. There is much to learn from the outspoken critics because generally, they have to most captivating things to say, things that will someday silence the oppression of governments.
Word Count: 600
Works Consulted:
Horowitz, Alana. "Julian Assange: U.S. Must End 'Witch Hunt' Against Wikileaks." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Aug. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.
"Democracy Now! Exclusive: Assange on WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, Cypherpunks, Surveillance State." ArtsJournal. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.