Julian Assange & The Computer Conspiracy: "To Destroy This Invisible Government"

Hissyspit

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Tue Nov-30-10 03:18 PM
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Julian Assange & The Computer Conspiracy: "To Destroy This Invisible Government"

Edited on Tue Nov-30-10 03:29 PM by Hissyspit

I have been struck by how much the mainstream media and politicians and critics of WikiLeaks do not understand what Assange is up to. He has TOLD US. Whatever you think of what Wikileaks is doing, no critique will be valid (or particularly legitimately convincing) without addressing the motivations and logic behind the whistleblower/leak website. - H'spit

http://zunguzungu.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/julian-assange-and-the-computer-conspiracy-�to-destroy-this-invisible-government�/#

Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy; �To destroy this invisible government�

Posted by zunguzungu on November 29, 2010

�To radically shift regime behavior we must think clearly and boldly for if we have learned anything, it is that regimes do not want to be changed. We must think beyond those who have gone before us, and discover technological changes that embolden us with ways to act in which our forebears could not. Firstly we must understand what aspect of government or neocorporatist behavior we wish to change or remove. Secondly we must develop a way of thinking about this behavior that is strong enough carry us through the mire of politically distorted language, and into a position of clarity. Finally must use these insights to inspire within us and others a course of ennobling, and effective action.�

Julian Assange, �State and Terrorist Conspiracies�

The piece of writing (via) which that quote introduces is intellectually substantial, but not all that difficult to read, so you might as well take a look at it yourself. Most of the news media seems to be losing their minds over Wikileaks without actually reading these essays, even though he describes the function and aims of an organization like Wikileaks in pretty straightforward terms. But, to summarize, he begins by describing a state like the US as essentially an authoritarian conspiracy, and then reasons that the practical strategy for combating that conspiracy is to degrade its ability to conspire, to hinder its ability to �think� as a conspiratorial mind. The metaphor of a computing network is mostly implicit, but utterly crucial: he seeks to oppose the power of the state by treating it like a computer and tossing sand in its diodes.

- snip -

He begins by positing that conspiracy and authoritarianism go hand in hand, arguing that since authoritarianism produces resistance to itself � to the extent that its authoritarianism becomes generally known � it can only continue to exist and function by preventing its intentions (the authorship of its authority?) from being generally known. It inevitably becomes, he argues, a conspiracy:

This is however, not where Assange�s reasoning leads him. He decides, instead, that the most effective way to attack this kind of organization would be to make �leaks� a fundamental part of the conspiracy�s information environment. Which is why the point is not that particular leaks are specifically effective. Wikileaks does not leak something like the �Collateral Murder� video as a way of putting an end to that particular military tactic; that would be to target a specific leg of the hydra even as it grows two more. Instead, the idea is that increasing the porousness of the conspiracy�s information system will impede its functioning, that the conspiracy will turn against itself in self-defense, clamping down on its own information flows in ways that will then impede its own cognitive function. You destroy the conspiracy, in other words, by making it so paranoid of itself that it can no longer conspire:

The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications mechanisms (an increase in cognitive �secrecy tax�) and consequent system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability to hold onto power as the environment demands adaption. Hence in a world where leaking is easy, secretive or unjust systems are nonlinearly hit relative to open, just systems. Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance.

The leak, in other words, is only the catalyst for the desired counter-overreaction; Wikileaks wants to provoke the conspiracy into turning off its own brain in response to the threat. As it tries to plug its own holes and find the leakers, he reasons, its component elements will de-synchronize from and turn against each other, de-link from the central processing network, and come undone. Even if all the elements of the conspiracy still exist, in this sense, depriving themselves of a vigorous flow of information to connect them all together as a conspiracy prevents them from acting as a conspiracy. As he puts it:

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