[lbo-talk] On Wikileaks

[Julio Huato]

I don't think they can put the genie back in the bottle.  Even if they
kill Assange (not unlikely) and shut down his web site, the example
has been set and there will be many more wikileaks type of outlets.
Technology keeps lowering the "transaction costs" of making social
institutions less opaque.  The driving factor is the communist impulse
to have whatever affects the public interest out there in the public
view, subject to public debate and -- ultimately -- to people's
democratic control.  IMO, this is a huge breakthrough -- its
ideological implications (which is to say, its practical political
implications) will prove to be huge.