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And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again? Archilochus

Saturday, June 15, 2019

The Fight for Digital Control

‘Assange extradition should be warning to liberals who believe in American democracy’ – Zizek

from RT
The UK’s decision to extradite WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to the US should be taken as a warning to all liberals who still have any faith in ‘American liberal democracy,’ says cultural philosopher Slavoj Zizek.

The Slovenian sociologist told RT that signing of the extradition order is just one of two recent events that really worry him. The other “ominous” event was the Ecuadorian government’s invitation to US authorities to take possession of Assange’s property from its London embassy when he was taken to prison, including book manuscripts, computers and other personal possessions.

“The nightmare is that the accuser was directly invited to take possession of all these documents. This breaks even the elementary the norms of legality,” Zizek explained.

“The message is, ‘Yes, we will be brutal beyond measure.’”

Zizek drew particular attention to the sheer brutality of the coordinated effort against the whistleblower after he exposed the US government and military’s gross misdeeds.

“It’s always an ominous signal when measures against a threatened individual are done in such a directly brutal way that this very brutality means something,” he said.

“What is going on now with Assange should be a warning to all those liberals who still believe in some kind of a genetic, almost priority, American liberal democracy.”

The philosopher added that he is “radically opposed” to US President Donald Trump, but noted the peculiar situation where the anti-Trump “liberal center” in US politics is harsher on Assange than the Trump administration because, in his estimation at least, “they think Assange helped Trump get elected.”

Zizek also railed against so-called liberals back across the pond in the UK arguing that “those in the UK who are most fervent advocates of Assange’s extradition, are not conservatives but more centrist Blairite wing of the Labour Party.”

“We should ask ourselves: What went wrong in the liberal center itself that something like Trump could appear?”

There is just as much blood on liberals’ hands as those whom they oppose when it comes to the abuses of the military industrial complex, he argues.

However, he does believe that Assange’s high-profile persecution may eventually serve as a call to mobilize for advocates of freedom of the press, but also fears a cultural ennui in the face of such widespread and egregious abuse of power.

“The public will become more and more aware of the non-transparency. Among other things, this is one of the great achievements of WikiLeaks. We became aware of how things are,” Zizek said.

“What really worries me is the inertia of the wider public; they are aware and yet they don’t really care about it.”

6 comments:

Franco Aragosta said...

Yes, of course, BUT –– and here's the rub –– SOMEBODY has to be in control lest we lapse into anarchy and spi off our axis into chaos, THEREFORE, if that be true, I'd much rather have somene who thinks like ME and believe what I believe in control than someone who thinks and believes like one of THEM.

};^)>

And isn't that true of ALL of us?

And isn't THAT the reason why "Peace on Earth Good Wll Towards Men" is an IMPOSSIBLE DREAM?

You see I have come to believe that doctrinaire LEFTISM should NOT be "free" to spread its deadly poison aming the innocent and ignorant. LEFTIST should be Oppressed, Suppressed, Extinguished and OBLITERATED.

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

So we should just believe James Comey on HRC and trust the Mueller Reports on Trump...?

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

What's wrong with sunlight? What's wrong with telling the people what's in the "Secret" protocols of the Trans Pacific Trade Agreement?

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

Aristophanes, "The Birds"

EPOPS
The clouds and the sky.

PITHETAERUS
Very well! is not this the pole of the birds then?

EPOPS
How their pole?

PITHETAERUS
Or, if you like it, their place. And since it turns and passes through the whole universe, it is called 'pole.' If you build and fortify it, you will turn your pole into a city. In this way you will reign over mankind as you do over the grasshoppers and you will cause the gods to die of rabid hunger

EPOPS
How so?

PITHETAERUS
The air is between earth and heaven. When we want to go to Delphi, we ask the Boeotians for leave of passage; in the same way, when men sacrifice to the gods, unless the latter pay you tribute, you exercise the right of every nation towards strangers and don't allow the smoke of the sacrifices to pass through your city and territory.

EPOPS
By earth! by snares! by network! by cages! I never heard of anything more cleverly conceived; and, if the other birds approve, I am going to build the city along with you.

Gert said...

Finally once again something from Zizek that cannot be argued with. SPOT ON!!

It's a big, big problem for Assange in Mordor: US faux-libtards' hatred of Assange because "he made her Queen lose" and their consequential blindness to the extreme danger to the freedom to publicize critical stuff.

Sadly his point about Mordorette's Corbynistas vis-a-vis Assange is also too true. :-(

Gert said...

"their", of course, nor "her".