Evil happens when good men fail to act.

 After few days of the Wikileaks saga playing itself out all over the world, I am amazed at how easily whole countries have sold out to global American imperialism, you may think this a harsh statement, but taken in the light that Julian Assange has yet to be convicted of any crime, the reaction of the so called democratic establishment is extreme to say the least. The degree of orchestration in the financial and legal isolation of Assange, is nothing short of shameful. What is more disturbing however is the lack of general support from a population which revels in freedom of speech and the benefits of the democratic process., which are supposed to be enjoyed by all humans. Basic human rights, like the right to free speech, have been steamrollered by corporations and banks all too keen to remain on the good side of what can only be described as the American Imperialist Machine.

Another comment glaringly absent from all the public forums is that the cables were sent by public servants, ultimately accountable to the voters whose taxes pay for the excesses which keep the same public servants in office, and supplied with a steady supply of all of the best and latest hi-tech toys with which to abuse their positions of power. No mention is made of the vested interests of government officials in strategic weapons manufacturers, which keep the war machine running at full speed, with Billions of Dollars being forked out by the tax paying public, who have not the slightest idea why it’s necessary to be at war. It has also been demonstrated that even social networking sites have been co-opted into the suppression of free expression of opinion, with Twitter actively manipulating their trending subjects to exclude the hashtag #wikileaks from the their trending charts, wanting to keep the level of interest in the topic as low as possible, to curry favour with the US authorities, who Ironically will participate in a global press freedom day in a few days’ time.

Finally the most encouraging and human reaction has come from the online community that has rallied behind Wikileaks and Assange and launched cyber-attacks similar to those launched against Wikileaks, by person unknown (yes indeed) in an attempt to take down the site by brute force a few days ago, against institutions supporting the isolation and persecution of Julian Assange, so far the bank in Switzerland that froze his defence fund and the Swedish Prosecutors websites have been attacked, as of this morning. BY now the list could have grown, and more good people with social consciences may joined the fight to keep the world a free place, where the interests of the voters should come above the interests of the elected officials.

It would be really good to look back one day, and accept that this one event had changed our future for the better by removing some if not all of the assumed power which public officials seems to assume for themselves, and ending the merciless riding of the voter by governments, who are too easily influenced and corruptible.

The most powerful weapon against corruption is disclosure

Recent events surrounding the Wikileaks disclosure of hundreds of thousands of confidential US diplomatic cables and how the writers of the cables, who were for the most part public servants, were contemptuous of so many international figures. Wikileaks has a history of consistent courage in providing the facility for anyone with a social conscience to anonymously disclose information  to the public which may reveal wholesale corruption, from disclosing land ownership in Kenya, to the secret deals made between cell phone providers in South Africa, and of course most recently the flood of documents from the USA.

I have long been a fan of Wikileaks, purely for their courageous commitment to a more transparent world, where large corporates and governments are concerned. Recently however I have looked at recent events, and noting the 78000 documents leaked regarding the USA’s presence in Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries, and wondered, how it is possible, with so much data and information about corrupt politicians and corporations, how the voters of specific countries consistently return thugs and corrupt individuals to power.

Americans have known for years, that their administrations have been corrupted by big business, that wars have been started to satisfy their need for armaments contracts, that big oil will continue to milk the American public and destroy the environment. Yet no fundamental shift has occurred in American politics to remove these warlords from power. Is American democracy, merely a tool of big business? 

What about our own situation? We are crossing an era where journalists are detained at the whim of thuggish ministers, where incompetence is rewarded with redeployment, and where truth is sacrificed for political advancement, we as a nation are in desperate need of a cataclysmic Wikileaks type event where, all of our politicians are reminded that they actually serve the people, and not as many are fond of believing, that once elected they become fêted deities. To spend and splurge public funds at the fastest rate possible. 

It would truly be heartening to see and become part of a national movement to expose and pursue the perpetrators of these excesses, to the full extent of the law, but the real law, not the currently emasculated, watery version so in vogue among the corrupt elite, where consequences are light, and the legal process long and expensive.  Rather than a manipulated flawed process, have a comprehensive disclosure to the masses and the world at large. So that the likes of the super corrupt may think twice before engaging in corrupt practices which the taxpayers have to pay for out funds which should be used to run the country, but rather are deviated into the hands and pockets of the kleptocracy.

The real winners of disclosure will always be the poor, the marginalized and the ignored voting machines so loved by the liberation movements. Disclosure will truly set us free as a united people. The alternative is what we have now, the lies, the deceit, and the criminal activities continuing unabated.