Julian Assange

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Long Term Effects of Wikileaks

It is true that the world will never be the same again. Now that a precedent has been set we can expect more leaks, more exposure, indeed, more calls for transparency and not necessarily just from Wikileaks. Others will now jump on the bandwagon including other countries.

Governments will be forced to change how they operate and the question is how will they do that? Will there be more transparency, or will government departments work towards a greater degree of security. I think we all know the answer to that one.
Government is about control. In some cases it is almost an obsession. No control equals anarchy in the eyes of some. Even though those societies where the individual is encouraged to assume more responsibility, there is less need of a nanny state and less need of control of the population. Sweden springs to mind as an example here.

But we are not living in such an enlightened age. Increase controls are the norm. An increased nanny state psychosis is now running rampant in many western governments and out and out suppress and control the population in some others.

Given the over the top reaction by the US government to wikileaks, it is very unlikely that the promised transparency by the US President will ever materialise. In fact his promises, moving out of Afghanistan, closing Guantánamo Bay, more transparency, etc, have all been shown to mean diddlysquat and it does not take a wikileaks cable exposure to see what HIS opinion of the American people really is.

Governments do not believe in transparency. They believe in control through ignorance

Prediction: Governments will likely tighten up and restrict even more their private doings and dealings. Secrecy will continue to be the order of the day. More and more information will be reclassified as secret and a broader range of classification will be formed. Heavier penalties will be applied for security leaks and less justice and more force will be applied.

indeed, the world will never be the same again.

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