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his personal transgressions and his attempts to leverage Wikileaks to protect himself from criminal prosecution That depends entirely on who you trust more, in
by andor 11y ago
his personal transgressions and his attempts to leverage Wikileaks to protect himself from criminal prosecution
That depends entirely on who you trust more, international politics or a whistleblower on a mission for free information and accountability.
I can't say much about Assange, but I have learned that the primary concern of nation states is to protect their interests, by basically maximizing the outcome of a game theory model. Secondary factors like integrity, that citizens might care about, can later be faked by covering things up.
- plugger 11y agoNation states are run by people. And people, Assange included, more often than not have their interests as their primary concern. I don't share your view of Assange as a whistleblower on a mission for free information and accountability, otherwise he wouldn't turn a blind eye to Russia and Putin's moves over the history of Wikileaks. He IS part of international politics now due to his desire and track record of attacking both the US and western interests more generally. Regardless my point still stands. He's taken wikileaks from a hub of wistleblowing and transparency to effectively a bullhorn for the Free Julian Assange movement. Wikileaks IS Julian Assange, Assange IS Wikileaks. And that's what saddens me more than anything else. What was once seen as a new paradigm for anonymous whistleblowing has deteriorated into a poorly masqueraded propaganda machine for his personal benefit. I think John Young saw this before anyone else and all considered I think he was right.