Information is the currency of democracy

Last I heard the United States was supposedly a bastion of democracy. You know freedom of expression, speech, information and religion. But it seems that only is consistent and true when expression, speech and religion is in support of the United Sates.

I find it strange that the principles that we as a nation promote that make us different and stand out, that the rest of the world - namely democracy, and what we fight for in other places is really just a willy nilly catch phrase. It is OK for us to put and plant what we think and call democracy in places like Iraq and Afghanistan - even if folk do not want such or even if we fail. But when other folk use our idealistic tendencies it becomes sacrilegious.




















Last I heard the United States was supposedly a bastion of democracy. You know freedom of expression, speech, information and religion. But it seems that only is consistent and true when expression, speech and religion is in support of the United Sates.

I find it strange that the principles that we as a nation promote that make us different and stand out, that the rest of the world - namely democracy, and what we fight for in other places is really just a willy nilly catch phrase. It is OK for us to put and plant what we think and call democracy in places like Iraq and Afghanistan - even if folk do not want such or even if we fail. But when other folk use our idealistic tendencies it becomes sacrilegious.

Our "imperial arrogance" asserts I guess, that the only folks with rights to a free and pen society are us and no one else. We have the audacity to proclaim being open, democratic and proponents of the free sharing of information unless it pertains to information of ours. Then we become the incarnate of Mussolini and fascism. Expression is obviously OK except for the Internet. Why? I cannot answer, but i can say we use our power to make private enterprises including Paypal and Amazon.com and master card to control what the supreme courts have considered expression as well - money, when anything we disagree with is cited or revealed. It is just ridiculous, the greatest democracy in the world asking for an Internet site to be shut down and its owner killed or jailed for sharing information that he did not steal.

How quick we are to reference Thomas Jefferson but forget it was he who wrote “Information is the currency of democracy." I just find it two-faced to say on the one hand we are a Nation of liberty and freedom yet on the other hold freedom of the Internet as being completely different. Even condemning China for their censorship but we espouse the same behavior and practice from a governmental locution regarding Wikileaks. Common sense tells me that if one condemns wikileaks we have to do the same with the New York Times and other web sites.

Freedom in the US is a myth. This is the only postulate that can be contrived from this entire wikileaks fiasco. Such is even more convoluted when we have no laws to even assert criminal behavior on the web sites owners behalf outside of an outdated 1917 espionage act that deals with maps.