20 January 2011
That the capitalist class, through their political stooges and media, should be screaming blue murder at Julian Assange and Wikileaks, is both typical and hypocritical. Since 9/11, many of the ordinary citizens' civil rights have been either taken away or blatantly ignored, using fear of terrorist strikes as an excuse. The capitalists through their executive committees, the state governments of the world, have gotten away with it, most notably in Britain, Canada and the US. In the US, government agents have the power to demand and receive information about anyone's reading habits. Here in Canada, the government has given itself the right to monitor, without warrants, all telephone and email communications to other countries. Canada's anti-terrorism laws have increased the power of the police to carry out wiretaps that were previously illegal. In the UK, closed circuit cameras, in all types of public areas, allow police to watch anyone going about their normal, everyday activities. Toronto police, very quietly, installed similar cameras in parts of Toronto three years ago.
Before last June's G20 Summit, another seventy-one 'temporary' surveillance cameras were installed in downtown Toronto. After the summit, they became permanent 'temporary' cameras. Canadian police can now demand information from internet service providers without a warrant from a judge. Considering all these increased governmental powers of surveillance, one is tempted to ask what has Mr. Assange done that is so bad. The answer from the capitalists' perspective is that he unearthed sensitive information that the governments had not made public before. He discovered 15 000 more deaths in Iraq than was public information previously. He let the cat out of the bag when he disclosed that the Saudi Arabian rulers had asked the US to bomb Iran.
What almost certainly riles the ruling elite is that Assange did not break 'their' law. He didn't break into a government office and steal state secrets or pay anyone to do so. He got access to political and military secrets and made them public. Assange turned the tables on them. Though it's been said that Assange isn't a man of upstanding character, who among the general public really cares? The public has generally supported Assange against the governments because it's 'getting one's own back' on those who spy on us. It shows the system to be secretive and elitist, the opposite of a transparent socialist society where everyone, through elected councils, would be involved in decision-making and therefore it would be unnecessary to spy on each other.
