Brooke finishes the book with a manifesto of sorts, a call to arms to press, politicos and public to confront the coming deluge of data and channel it for transparency and accountability, but away from surveillance and invasion of privacy (a delicate operation, to be sure!) and to resist using the net as an excuse for more intrusive information policy.
I found this over at BoingBoing where Cory Doctorow said: “This young man is one of the best speakers I’ve heard, and I salute his passion and his integrity.”
I have my faith in humanity restored whenever I hear young men and women speak words like this:
They can’t stop us demonstrating, they can’t stop us fighting back, and how ever much they try to imprison us in the streets of London, those are our streets. We will always be there to demonstrate, we will always be there to fight… We are no longer that generation that doesn’t care, we are no longer that generation to sit back and take whatever they give us. We are now the generation at the heart of the fight back.
They deserve our praise and, more importantly, our support. There is a very big fight coming. Large storm clouds of unrest are looming on the horizon of our lives. The stakes are going to be very dear and the end result – as much as these things ever have any true end – is in no wait a certainty. The next decade is going to be hell. No doubt about it. The young men and women who think and act as this student does will bear the brunt of the fight. Old farts like me must be prepared to do more than write angry blog posts or rage on Twitter.
I have a lot more to say about the recent events around the world with respect to freedom of speech and the right to dissent. There is a post-production deadline I must endeavour to meet and that will keep me busy for the next few weeks. Come the new year there be other projects that will occupy my time. But I do have more to say and I will find the time and the various ways and means of doing so. In the meantime, don’t be cynical, don’t be depressed, and don’t be savagely angry. Just be determined to add your own voice, in whatever way, regardless of how trivial it may seem. We are Spartacus, we are Anonymous, we are Assange, we are the Who’s of Whoville – and we will be heard.
TED’s Chris Anderson talks with Julian Assange of WikiLeaks:
Any furor over the release of documents via WikiLeaks should always be tempered with the hidden truths revealed.
In a world where our own privacy is being relentlessly corroded, monetized, surveilled and abused by governments, military and business we are constantly being inculcated, subdued and inured to believing it is inevitable and inexorable for us to live in a world without privacy.
Okay.
But that goes for everyone.
No secrets.
You want to know everything about me but aren’t willing to share?
Fuck you.
If a democracy cannot operate openly and transparently it is not a democracy. To pretend otherwise is delusional. If you accept the necessity of a government or business to keep its illegal and unethical behaviour secret from those whom it serves or affects then you give up all control over your world and acquiesce to a life of servitude in a plutocracy.
Fuck you.
If you stand against the imposition of secrets to hide fault and criminal action, regardless of the consequences – welcome friend.
I'm going to be slowly making some changes to the website both in format and content - and I'm pretty sure even the URL will change.
It's going to be more of a personal news aggregator with a featured video blog from yours truly. We'll see how long that lasts. So bear with me - thanks.
It's going to be more of a personal news aggregator with a featured video blog from yours truly. We'll see how long that lasts. So bear with me - thanks.