Ill admit it: I haven’t been following the news whatsoever within the past 2 months. And any official news that I did skim across, was during breakfast on my way to comics section of the Globe. Other than those snippets and headlines, I get all my news from my parents during car rides. A recent car-conversation especially sparked my interest: Wikileaks. My dad had said a quick word about it to my mom, and I immediately pried him for more information about the Web site, what kinds of things are “leaked” on it, and what was going on with the recent leaks, done by computer hacker/Private Bradley Manning. Not getting all the information on the subject that I craved, I hopped online to find out more. First, I went to The New York Times online, hoping to find an article or two on the subject. An article or two? No, there were tons and tons of articles on Wikileaks on The New York Times page alone. What I learned was that Wikileaks is a Web site that reveals secret documents from governments around the world for any common citizen with internet access to view. Articles date back years, with many documents coming from the Afghani and Iraq wars. These leaks in particular worried military officials because they said that the world wide release of the confidential and even secret documents could put our soldiers in danger. (Obviously in even more than they already are, seeing that they are currently at war). In late November of this year, Private Bradley Manning leaked more than 150,000 classified cables, (documents, emails, etc) to Wikileaks, and is suspected of leaking about 90,000 cables about the Afghan war.
Now what I’m wondering is, is Wikileaks a right that goes along with our Freedom Speech, or is it wrong to violate the delicate privacy of our world leaders? Obviously with the amount of wars that have gone on during our World’s history, relations with foreign nations are constantly kept on a balance beam, with one problem or hurt feeling that could push nations into battle. I believe that Wikileaks could be that hand that pushes. Things that are private are private for a reason. One leak revealed American discussions with South Korea about North Korea. And the North Korean leaders can easily look online at exactly what their enemies were saying about them. These same types of discussions between hundreds of nations, about hundreds of nations, are now open for the entire world to read. People say that free speech is part of a democracy, but I say that secrecy is part of government. Any government, and that’s a big part of how they work. If Wikileaks had been around in 1776, could Washington have ever crossed the Delaware to defeat the German Hessian soldiers? Probably not since the Hessians would have been waiting for them. Secrecy has worked in the past. Don’t get me wrong, freedom of speech is a wonderful right. I love being able to speak my mind. I love being able to speak my mind right her right now on this blog (sorry, general term). But secret government information regarding our past, present, and future? Leave the viewing of those files to spies and world leaders who actually know what their doing.
P.S. I was looking on twitter for other people’s opinions on the release of recently jailed Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, and I found this one particularly amusing: “YESSS!(Julian-Assange-"WikiLeaks-Founder"-Is-Released-and-FREE)--What-a-GREAT-DAY!-#HAPPYYY”.
Greta, this is a great issue to explore, especially in our class. I recommend that you have more conversations with your dad about current events. You will need a good sense of contemporary issues when you try to answer some of the exam questions. You do a great job of taking a position and supporting it. For example, the hypothetical analogy that you draw between Wikileaks and Washington’s defeat of the Hessians is great. This type of thinking will serve you well on the exam. I encourage you to keep track of this issue and the positions people take on it. Because it relates to how people manipulate language as a source of power, it is very germane to our class.
ReplyDeleteYour post interested me Greta because Wikileaks has been one of my history class' main subjects these past weeks. Mr. Randall encouraged us to take a definite position and argue whether we believe that it helps or hurts society. Originally I was on the same side as you, and argued that "secrets are meant to be kept secret". But recently, Emerson's "Self Reliance" has convinced me to look more into detail of my past arguemnts and perhaps change them, since consistenty isn't all that important.
ReplyDeleteMy opinions on WikiLeaks were one of my few past arguments that I have totally changed. WikiLeaks is great for society and can possibly put a stop to the constant corruption that we see in today's government. I agree that giving away the names of spies and revealing secret information about Iraq may be harmful, but it is a small price to pay for ending corruption in our government. In reality, most of the posts are about what one senator said about another or about how someone got their job due to bribery. WikiLeaks has helped to reveal these corrupt officials and will even prevent further corruption because now everyone is afraid that it could be leaked.
Not only can WikiLeaks stop corruption, but it can restore equality in America. Countless government employees(probation department) received their jobs from a bribe or as a favor. Now these people are being constantly revealed on WikiLeaks. This forces people to think twice about hiring someone just because of their last name. Now people can be accepted to college or receive jobs because they actually deserve it. WikiLeaks has exposed government employees who were hired for something as little as luxury box Celtics tickets.
After my research I find it hard to look at WikiLeaks negatively. It is a great scare tactic to prevent the corruption that is constantly seen in today's society. If an official does something that they are scared of people knowing, they should just not do it rather than complain when it is leaked on the internet.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI only learned about WikiLeaks a few weeks ago, before that, I had only heard some people mention it, but never really found out what it was. This post took my attention because several other countries have begun making their own online versions of WikiLeaks, in which they do the same thing; leak secret official government documents. My cousin from Peru, is the founder of the Peruvian version of WikiLeaks. He is revered positively by everyone as far as I know though, which is a little different than here where the founder of the original WikiLeaks was arrested. But when I think about the fact that other countries are starting to do this, it makes me realize that technology is really diminishing the amount of privacy not just a person, but a whole government can have. I agree with you that some things are just meant to be kept private, and out of the public's eye because of the negative effect they can have if certain people were to find out about them and read them. But in this case, I think we're going to have to live with these new changes that come with so much technology even if those changes include a reduced amount of secrecy that the government can control. I agree with you that the negative things that could eventually come from leaking so much private information into the public outweigh the idea of freedom of speech, but in a new age where technology directs and stores most of our information, I think that there is nothing that can be done from preventing things like this from happening. As long as there is a way to do this, the computer gods such as my cousin will continue to do so. A reduced amount of government and general privacy is one of the many costs of modern-day internet and technology.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nick and Nate. These are interesting posts. Nick your point about technology interests me. With the proliferation of computer technology, people have had to alter the way they live. We constantly worry about our privacy now that each Google search we make or website we visit can be tracked. The government should start feeling a similar pressure. Nick, by the way, Julian Assange was arrest for a separate issue. To my knowledge, it had nothing to do with his position at Wikileaks. Nate, I think you are wise to try to look at the positive sides of Wikileaks. Like you, I originally responded quite negatively. However, I have expanded my thinking on the subject. Perhaps a little purging of secret information is healthy for the nation.
ReplyDelete