Are Wikileaks and Anonymous All There Is Left We Can Rely on, w Trust in Biz & Govt. at rock bottom?

[marmar]

AlterNet / By Joshua Holland

Are Wikileaks and Anonymous Hackers All There Is Left We Can Rely on, with Trust in Business and Government at Rock Bottom?
Their ability to bring powerful giants to heel is as compelling as the mythical Robin Hood's battle with a haughty medieval aristocracy.

September 2, 2011 |


It may not be appropriate to say in polite company, but there's no doubt that some Americans who hold a deep respect for the rule of law also find themselves cheering the information-age ronin who appear capable of waging war against the mightiest states and the most powerful corporations with impunity – the WikiLeakers and shadowy hackers that make up groups like Anonymous.

They may not approve of all of their actions – indeed, they may find some to be deeply misguided – but for those who aren't instinctively deferential to authority, their ability to bring powerful giants to heel is as compelling as the mythical Robin Hood's battle with a haughty medieval aristocracy.

Consider the environment in which these anti-heroic nerds operate. The United States jails more of its citizens than any other country on the planet, often for offenses as minor as possessing some marijuana. In six states, courts are now throwing people in jail for failing to make scheduled debt payments. An Illinois man was recently sentenced to 75 years for recording cops he alleged were harrassing him. Just last week, a Tennessee woman was threatened with arrest for the “crime” of allowing her 10-year-old child to bike a mile to school; police said she'd be charged with child neglect if she didn't send the kid to school on the bus.

There's very little accountability, however, for the large and increasingly powerful institutions with which we interact every day. It's become extremely hard for individuals to escape from beneath a pile of debt in bankruptcy court, but for corporations moral hazard abounds. Nobody has gone to prison for the widespread fraud Wall Street committed in building a house of cards out of a pile of mortgage-backed securities. In fact, a settlement is being worked out that will let banks off the hook for their scandalous robo-signing fraud with a slap on the wrist, even as they continue to fabricate foreclosure documents. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court made it almost impossible for people ripped off by big corporations to file class-action suits. Nobody at a high level was punished for torturing terror suspects, or for spying on American citizens in apparent violation of the law. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/media/152273/are_wikileaks_and_anonymous_hackers_all_there_is_left_we_can_rely_on%2C_with_trust_in_business_and_government_at_rock_bottom/

[mdmc]

1. them and bernie

[qb]

2. I am thankful for Anonymous & Wikileaks. It seems they are all we have to rely on

with the media & much of the US justice system under the control of wealthy elites and the UN powerless to address war crimes committed by Western nations.

[Demeter]

3. Yes. Next Question?

[Fearless]

4. Struck a nerve?

[Demeter]

5. No

It's intuitively obvious to the casual observer...as we say in the trade.

[Fearless]

7. Well "as we say in the trade"

:nopity:

[MisterP]

6. technically, Robin Hood was fighting a squeeze-happy monarch

whom the aristocrats didn't really get along with