I was among those who lost respect for him at that time. It was clear to me that he was a supporter of the fascist movement that swept across the tech and hacker culture in the early to mid teens, and that he biased his leaks accordingly. He and many of his followers were probably swept up in that wave of stupid male insecurity bullshit that 4chan shat out starting in 2012.
Fascism and totalitarian Communism are the two great utopian death cults of the 20th century. Anyone who supports either of these in any serious and substantial way should absolutely be “cancelled.”
I agree that there has been more attention toward cancelling the fascist side, but that is because they were ascendant. Those who actually believe in freedom generally find themselves opposing the totalitarian left or the totalitarian right depending on which side is presenting a threat at a given time. If the totalitarian left rises again, then the focus will have to change to destroying that.
I’ve heard it put this way: true libertarians sound like conservatives when the far left is rising and like liberals when the far right is rising. That is because we have to fight every utopian totalitarian grift that comes along.
Libertarianism is the party supporting rule by the biggest corporation. Any rhetoric is wholly incidental, and purely a distraction, because it has no effect on policy: under libertarian government, you have rights to the exact extent that you can enforce them against Apple and Exxon by the strength of your own arm.
Europeans have "Democratic Libertarianism" which is almost, but not quite, wholly unlike the American libertarianism I refer to. All American libertarians will echo you, but never have any way to avoid the described outcome.
Let me split hairs. I am not convinced that Assange deserves everything he is getting, but it is really hard for me to care. The parent post was about why nobody cares, and I answered it truthfully.
I’ve heard it put this way: true libertarians sound like conservatives when the far left is rising and like liberals when the far right is rising. That is because we have to fight every utopian totalitarian grift that comes along.
I definitely end up this way talking to friends. My politics are always othered for not parroting their party line, generally whatever nascent groupthink is setting the stage for some future corporate-totalitarian push.
But you've seriously got to apply this insight to your own lead off assertion:
It was clear to me that he [Assange] was a supporter of the fascist movement that swept across the tech and hacker culture in the early to mid teens, and that he biased his leaks accordingly
Your claim that the right-totalitarian side was ascendant in the "early to mid teens" has more to do with your own perspective, seemingly ignoring the overarching societal tone of left authoritarianism (led by the White House). IMO the rise in red flavored thinking was driven by dissent, and I say this as someone with generally blue biases.
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I was among those who lost respect for him at that time. It was clear to me that he was a supporter of the fascist movement that swept across the tech and hacker culture in the early to mid teens, and that he biased his leaks accordingly. He and many of his followers were probably swept up in that wave of stupid male insecurity bullshit that 4chan shat out starting in 2012.
Fascism and totalitarian Communism are the two great utopian death cults of the 20th century. Anyone who supports either of these in any serious and substantial way should absolutely be “cancelled.”
I agree that there has been more attention toward cancelling the fascist side, but that is because they were ascendant. Those who actually believe in freedom generally find themselves opposing the totalitarian left or the totalitarian right depending on which side is presenting a threat at a given time. If the totalitarian left rises again, then the focus will have to change to destroying that.
I’ve heard it put this way: true libertarians sound like conservatives when the far left is rising and like liberals when the far right is rising. That is because we have to fight every utopian totalitarian grift that comes along.
Libertarianism is the party supporting rule by the biggest corporation. Any rhetoric is wholly incidental, and purely a distraction, because it has no effect on policy: under libertarian government, you have rights to the exact extent that you can enforce them against Apple and Exxon by the strength of your own arm.
Good luck.
There are a variety of libertarians, and you misunderstand all of them if you think the above is true.
Europeans have "Democratic Libertarianism" which is almost, but not quite, wholly unlike the American libertarianism I refer to. All American libertarians will echo you, but never have any way to avoid the described outcome.
so we just throw out free speech and freeedom of choice with the bath water?
What do you mean by “freeedom of choice” in this context?
They would do the same if they got into power.
Let me split hairs. I am not convinced that Assange deserves everything he is getting, but it is really hard for me to care. The parent post was about why nobody cares, and I answered it truthfully.
I definitely end up this way talking to friends. My politics are always othered for not parroting their party line, generally whatever nascent groupthink is setting the stage for some future corporate-totalitarian push.
But you've seriously got to apply this insight to your own lead off assertion:
Your claim that the right-totalitarian side was ascendant in the "early to mid teens" has more to do with your own perspective, seemingly ignoring the overarching societal tone of left authoritarianism (led by the White House). IMO the rise in red flavored thinking was driven by dissent, and I say this as someone with generally blue biases.
Who is the "red menace" here? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states