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citizens spying on the state: umberto eco on wikileaks
Not such wicked leaks02 December 2010 LIBÉRATION PARIS For the celebrated novelist and intellectual Umberto Eco, the Wikileaks affair or "Cablegate" not only shows up the hypocrisy that governs relations between states, citizens and the press, but also presages a return to more archaic forms of communication. Secondly, the very notion that any old hacker can delve into the most secret secrets of the most powerful country in the world has dealt a hefty blow to the State Department's prestige. So the scandal actually hurts the "perpetrators" more than the "victims". This is what really hurt, and is why they are trying to destroy Assange. Nothing to do with 'lives in danger' or trumped up rape charges. But let's turn to the more profound significance of what has occurred. Formerly, back in the days of Orwell, every power could be conceived of as a Big Brother watching over its subjects' every move. The Orwellian prophecy came completely true once the powers that be could monitor every phone call made by the citizen, every hotel he stayed in, every toll road he took and so on and so forth. Yes even your Government and my Government. That is the US, UK and Australia. The weapons they turn against your 'enemy' they turn against you, also. The citizen became the total victim of the watchful eye of the state. But when it transpires, as it has now, that even the crypts of state secrets are not beyond the hacker's grasp, the surveillance ceases to work only one-way and becomes circular. The state has its eye on every citizen, but every citizen, or at least every hacker -- the citizens' self-appointed avenger -- can pry into the state's every secret. How can a power hold up if it can't even keep its own secrets anymore? That last I disagree with. I think the power will not only hold up but be more robust than before. A Government open to criticism, scrutiny and change will evolve to be way stronger and more advanced than its competitors who allow incompetence to breed in the dark corrupt corners awau from public scrutiny, eg China. Posted by: anon1 2010-12-06 |
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