Ok - I'll buy that. Facebook has changed the way the world operates. It could be out-done by the next greatest thing (a la what FB did to Myspace), but for the year 2010, yes, I'll buy that.
What I cannot, however, buy is that one of the runners up was Julian Assange, the political hacker that spawned wikileaks. What is
a POTY anyway? Is it truly just any individual that changes the world? Is there supposed to be some aspect of "good" for the world that was changed or could Charlie Manson also have a spot on the list?
a POTY anyway? Is it truly just any individual that changes the world? Is there supposed to be some aspect of "good" for the world that was changed or could Charlie Manson also have a spot on the list?
(note: the criteria for Time Magazine Person of the Year “for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year.” wikipedia)
Ok - then let's say that there is no need for an aspect of "good" for an individual to be considered for the top spot of the year according to Time. Now the simple disgust becomes vomitous disgust as I read through the comments to the posting on the Time website discussing Assange.
A Patriot?
The debate was much less "did he change the world" and much more "he is a good person for doing such a good thing".
Did anyone read that? Are they serious? An individual that is currently being held on a rape rap and is being investigate by the US Government for espionage and co-conspirator charges is being lauded by Americans as... wait for it... a Patriot?
Look, I'm not necessarily up on all this, but from what I've heard and read (yes, I've even visited the wikileaks site) it seems to me that he is seriously endangering human lives.
There are leaks of personal assessments of world leaders that could lead to tensions at best between countries. There are leaks identifying under cover operatives. There are leaks of all sorts of wartime information.
(Incidentally, in the New Yorker profile of Julian Assange it notes the high level of secrecy in his "organization" where his "workers" are only known, even among themselves, by initials - doesn't that defy the whole premise of him leaking secrets? At the bottom there are more reader comments supporting him as a patriot.)
All of these could lead to the loss of human life. He doesn’t appear to care and all those posting the “he’s a great man” don’t seem to care about the loss of human life.
(Incidentally, in the New Yorker profile of Julian Assange it notes the high level of secrecy in his "organization" where his "workers" are only known, even among themselves, by initials - doesn't that defy the whole premise of him leaking secrets? At the bottom there are more reader comments supporting him as a patriot.)
All of these could lead to the loss of human life. He doesn’t appear to care and all those posting the “he’s a great man” don’t seem to care about the loss of human life.
It’s almost as if they feel a party-line victory that vindicates their ideology and they are willing to “win” the conversation at the expense of human lives just for the sake of winning.
How can there be such a chasm in the perceptions of Americans. On the afternoon of 9/11 there was such a "put our differences aside and come together" attitude by all Americans (and people the world over) that I actually thought there was some hope for us all to see the big picture when it came right down to it.
Now I read posts that convey such bitterness, hatred, disgust and paranoia for our Government (notice I didn't say Administration, just Government as that exempts Obama... not sure why, but he is apparently not part of the problem).
Has there always been this much disdain in (or for) America
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