4 ms·

I have to strongly disagree. Wikileaks has released minutiae about other countries as well. It isn't only about showing up hypocrisy from the US, it is about

by Amadou 13y ago

I have to strongly disagree. Wikileaks has released minutiae about other countries as well. It isn't only about showing up hypocrisy from the US, it is about lifting the veil of secrecy that all governments misuse whether it is hiding big stories or trivial ones. Saying that wikileaks has an agenda to oppose the US is basically confirmation bias. Leaks about the US get news coverage in the US. Just for starters, look at the 2 million emails from Syria - clearly most of those are about trivial matters too, but most people in the US haven't even heard about the release at all.

mpyne 13y ago
> I have to strongly disagree. Wikileaks has released minutiae about other countries as well. Doing bad things to other countries (again, because of what they are instead of what they've done) doesn't make me feel better about when it's done to mine. Here's some other countries I don't hate: Russia, China, the U.K., France, South Africa and in fact the list could go on as long as I have time. > Just for starters, look at the 2 million emails from Syria - clearly most of those are about trivial matters too, but most people in the US haven't even heard about the release at all. There's no polite way for me to say this so I'll just spit it out; no one cares about Syrian government emails. That's why no one in the U.S has heard about the release. Gossip is as destructive for international politics as it is for small towns. If there's big news to release then by all means go and do so, but governments should be able to maintain diaries too.
- Amadou 13y ago
  I'm having a hard time understanding your point of view, it seems to have no unifying principle. But if I take your last sentence as what you really believe then the obvious response is that once governments can be relied on to not abuse their ability to keep secrets then they will have earned the privilege to maintain their diaries in secret.
  - mpyne 13y ago
    And anarcho-libertarian types will claim that a government can never be relied on to do that, which is just as well as saying again that the government could not be allowed to keep secrets.
    - Amadou 13y ago
      Since I'm not an anarcho-libertarian type and you clearly are not, I don't think what they might hypothetically say matters all that much.

by Amadou 13y ago

mpyne 13y ago

> I have to strongly disagree. Wikileaks has released minutiae about other countries as well. Doing bad things to other countries (again, because of what they are instead of what they've done) doesn't make me feel better about when it's done to mine. Here's some other countries I don't hate: Russia, China, the U.K., France, South Africa and in fact the list could go on as long as I have time. > Just for starters, look at the 2 million emails from Syria - clearly most of those are about trivial matters too, but most people in the US haven't even heard about the release at all. There's no polite way for me to say this so I'll just spit it out; no one cares about Syrian government emails. That's why no one in the U.S has heard about the release. Gossip is as destructive for international politics as it is for small towns. If there's big news to release then by all means go and do so, but governments should be able to maintain diaries too.

Amadou 13y ago
I'm having a hard time understanding your point of view, it seems to have no unifying principle. But if I take your last sentence as what you really believe then the obvious response is that once governments can be relied on to not abuse their ability to keep secrets then they will have earned the privilege to maintain their diaries in secret.
- mpyne 13y ago
  And anarcho-libertarian types will claim that a government can never be relied on to do that, which is just as well as saying again that the government could not be allowed to keep secrets.
  - Amadou 13y ago
    Since I'm not an anarcho-libertarian type and you clearly are not, I don't think what they might hypothetically say matters all that much.