> Assange's real
> > importance is that he's one of the first transnational media stars of the
> > post-2011 conjuncture -- the kind which draw their power from billions of
> > cellphones, user sites, and LAN-cafes.
>
> Yeah, and what is the U.S. state next to those?
>
> Really, Dennis, this is dreamy stuff.
>
There's nothing dreamy about it. Bollywood sells a billion tickets a year. The BRICs generate 19% of the world's GDP, produce 40% of the world's films, and account for 9% of the world videogame market. The biggest cities of the semiperiphery are vast engines of culture and commerce, and their residents are literate and media-savvy. That's the audience Assange is playing to, whether he knows it or not (I actually think he does).
-- DRR