From JLo: Overcoming Mendacity

"To keep oneself safe does not mean to bury oneself." - Seneca

For almost as long as I can remember, I have been perpetually disenchanted by the disconnect between what our (and non-elected) representatives do, and what they actually tell us.

I have also found myself in a semi-permanent state of embitterment by contemporary journalism's pathological reliance on shameless entertainment, and poisonous PR manipulation, which is the key agent in creating and maintaining this aforementioned disconnect.

Traditional mediums of information dissemination - print, television, radio - relied on the passive assent of their audiences. Even with the advent of the internet, Old Media simply saw this as a convenient channel of convergence - a place to neatly encompass all their existing content production and correlating agendas into a neat little package, with new advertising streams to tie it all together.

Old Media did not account for the fact that there was a pre-existing, vaster realm which was barely visible to them - hackers, programmers, etc - that shaped this cozy new medium which Old Media thought belonged to itself and itself only. Old Media did not see any challenge coming towards them, beyond commercial concerns regarding the science of selling ad space, measuring mouse-clicks and keeping themselves comfortably bloated with tainted money.

Unlike Old Media, the inherent interactivity of the internet means it is the virtual mirror of all town squares, coffee houses, and street corners on Earth. Wikileaks is a reminder that the internet's sociological makeup is adversarial to consensus.

The Western power sphere likes to believe that its public spaces are free of the rhythmic marching of jackboots. Reporters visiting the streets of Pyongyang have remarked on the eeriness of its streets, which are devoid of the bustling energy of people free from fear. The internet, everybody's rightful public space, is being threatened with the same fate in places where at least for the time being, are open and free.

A contraction, a terminal ossification is occurring. The speed with which legislation is being passed in Western countries to hem in the tide of freely circulating information and thought online, under the guise of such relativistic social and political pretexts as prevention of child abuse, pornography, copyright infringement and terrorism, has seen an ominous quickening in the last two years.

A brief period of elation in the sense of community and sharing of knowledge that the internet has wrought now appears to be coming to an end. Coupled with the increasingly sophisticated manipulation of contemporary media, we are witnessing the slow death of liberties we've barely had time to enjoy.

Wikileaks has recognized these threats and called them out by name.

History is cyclical. Ever since the earthquake of the Enlightenment, all we've done ever since is re-arrange the furniture. We need not fear another earthquake - those who believe in justice would rather try to emerge from the rubble rather than stay comfortably and quietly buried alive.

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