Subject: Re: Your submission on the persistence of the Confederacy |
From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> |
Date: 1/2/11, 18:41 |
To: Matt Seaton <matt.seaton@guardian.co.uk> |
Let me know if this works for you.
Never in human history has there been a period that compares to our own in the degree to which the terminology employed at the end of a twenty-year period would have been entirely incomprehensible at its beginning. This is, or should be, the first sign that something is afoot. All significant human activity is the result of human collaboration, and over this same period the potential for human collaboration has exploded in a manner that has never before been seen. This is the second sign, and the fact that these developments and their implications have been greeted with the usual mix of silly and inane commentary for which our career media personnel have become known even to themselves is in turn a perfect indication of why this period has been so necessary, and why many of us are working to ensure that the dynamics now in play continue to accelerate.
Wikileaks, a force that was ignored by a news media incapable of identifying important trends until such time as it became impossible to disregard, has ushered in a new period of human history in which state actors have lost the privacy that they never deserved in the first place. Anonymous, a similarly misunderstood harbinger of the coming age, has taken a series of actions to defend that organization, including information campaigns and DDOS attacks on national governments - including Tunisia, as of this writing - that have welcomed the new age with tighter controls on what their citizens are allowed to see. As someone who has worked with and promoted certain factions of Anonymous for a number of years, I would like to explain what it is that is happening and why it will continue until such time as individual liberty escapes its controversial status.
Throughout history, the majority has been consistently wrong and consistently willing to initiate violence in service to the local flavor of foolishness. Not long ago, many took for granted the divine right of kings - and some still do, of course. Today, many in the West believe that anything is moral just so long as it is done in some accordance with the will of the voting population of a particular nation-state; to some, even a kings intent will suffice. Actions of extraordinarily lesser negative impact on the innocent, taken by any organization that lacks the arbitrary status of a state, are meanwhile denounced with a fervor that the more fair-minded might reserve for those who routinely cause the deaths of women and children - for instance, the large majority of American voters who have exercised their rights to topple one dictator while propping up others, and who pat themselves on the back for their participation in a civic entity that has made such a mockery of the rule of law that those of us who were born too late to see the America that once existed no longer feel any loyalty to its government whatsoever.
This is the context that has turned Anonymous from a Dadaist cultural phenomenon into a geopolitical harbinger. Its first notable target was the violent white supremacist and FBI informant Hal Turner; its second was the Church of Scientology and the degenerate manner in which it deals with critics and apostates; its third was the government of Australia on the occasion of a proposed internet censorship policy that would have opened the door for further state control of expression, as such policies always do.
Over time, Anonymous has changed. Some of us are no longer anonymous, for one thing; my associate Gregg Housh was outed by the Church of Scientology after they discovered he was one of the five participants who launched the Chanology raids via a YouTube proclamation, and thus now gives interviews to those outlets that care to know more; my associate Sean Carasov killed himself last month after a great deal of legal harassment from the Church that helped to ensure that his career would never see a revival. Others have been arrested as well, and more will be arrested in the future. This will stop nothing. And the typically flawed reception that the movement has received from those who will justify most any government action will not change the fact that we have entered a new age in which individuals around the world can form their own entities to counter those that now exist, and will do so increasingly as the implications of our time become more widely understood. And they will indeed be made understood, soon and forever after, to all who choose to listen.
On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 1:22 PM, Barrett Brown
<barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Indeed. I'll have it to you by then, no problemo. Thanks and Happy New Year.On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 1:24 PM, Matt Seaton
<matt.seaton@guardian.co.uk> wrote:
OK, let's go with that; trust you to do it your way. Can you keep to more like 600-700 words, tho?
For 2/3 Jan?
Best for 2011.
Thanks, MattOn 31 December 2010 13:17, Barrett Brown
<barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
That sounds great to me, I really do want to focus on Anonymous anyway since it is so often poorly covered (and understandably so). 1,000 words?
On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 12:28 PM, Matt Seaton
<matt.seaton@guardian.co.uk> wrote:
Hi Barrett
No need to invoice; you should get an email shortly confirming payment. Was a great success; thanks for checking out the thread.
Could be up for comment on Anon, but feel a bit WikiLeaked out right now. Could we angle it another way... maybe look at Chanology and Housh instead and their work?
Best, MattOn 30 December 2010 15:46, Barrett Brown
<barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
You have quite a few very well-informed commenters, particularly relative to what I'm used to. Let me know if I should send an invoice (if you're still able to pay a stipend for this first one).
I've been working with the Anonymous movement in general and the fellow who launched the Chanology operations against Scientology in particular and have been trying to make the case for some of what they've been doing in support of Wikileaks. I may be doing my third book with that fellow, Greg Housh, who himself has been doing the media rounds over the past few weeks in defense of both organizations. Let me know if you'd be interested in a piece on Anonymous and why, whether or not one approves of everything they've done, it represents a new sort of crowd-sourced dynamic that will only grow more significant as the information age continues to develop.
On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 3:05 PM, Matt Seaton
<matt.seaton@guardian.co.uk> wrote:
Look forward to that; don't be a stranger:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/dec/26/american-civil-war-usa
Do post in the thread if you have time, please.
Regards, MattOn 26 December 2010 16:46, Barrett Brown
<barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks, Matt. I'll get back to you at some point soon with a couple of ideas for future columns.
Hi Barrett
Just to let you know that your piece is all set up to run tomorrow; will send you link when live.
Best wishes,
Matt
On 24 December 2010 04:23, Matt Seaton
<matt.seaton@guardian.co.uk> wrote:
Hi Barrett
Jonathan has kindly forwarded me your piece about the memorial to Robert E Lee in Texas etc, which I like very much and would gladly run on Comment is free America (and the main Cif).
If you could please send me a short biog and a head-and-shoulders photo (preferably colour) of yourself, that would be great. If you could provide some weblinks for the references in your article, that would be a bonus (though I can find some if necessary).
I'm on a very tight budget, which means I can't always pay for content, but I can find one of our modest fees for this. Please feel free to pitch ideas in future.
Best, Matt
--
Matt Seaton
Editor, Comment is free America
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/america
Direct line: 212-584 9938
Cellphone: 202-372 7444
--
Matt Seaton
Editor, Comment is free America
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/america
Direct line: 212-584 9938
Cellphone: 202-372 7444
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit guardian.co.uk - newspaper website of the year
www.guardian.co.uk www.observer.co.uk
To save up to 33% when you subscribe to the Guardian and the Observer
visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/subscriber
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail and all attachments are confidential and may also
be privileged. If you are not the named recipient, please notify
the sender and delete the e-mail and all attachments immediately.
Do not disclose the contents to another person. You may not use
the information for any purpose, or store, or copy, it in any way.
Guardian News & Media Limited is not liable for any computer
viruses or other material transmitted with or as part of this
e-mail. You should employ virus checking software.
Guardian News & Media Limited
A member of Guardian Media Group plc
Registered Office
PO Box 68164
Kings Place
90 York Way
London
N1P 2AP
Registered in England Number 908396
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
--
Matt Seaton
Editor, Comment is free America
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/america
Direct line: 212-584 9938
Cellphone: 202-372 7444
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit guardian.co.uk - newspaper website of the year
www.guardian.co.uk www.observer.co.uk
To save up to 33% when you subscribe to the Guardian and the Observer
visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/subscriber
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail and all attachments are confidential and may also
be privileged. If you are not the named recipient, please notify
the sender and delete the e-mail and all attachments immediately.
Do not disclose the contents to another person. You may not use
the information for any purpose, or store, or copy, it in any way.
Guardian News & Media Limited is not liable for any computer
viruses or other material transmitted with or as part of this
e-mail. You should employ virus checking software.
Guardian News & Media Limited
A member of Guardian Media Group plc
Registered Office
PO Box 68164
Kings Place
90 York Way
London
N1P 2AP
Registered in England Number 908396
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
--
Matt Seaton
Editor, Comment is free America
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/america
Direct line: 212-584 9938
Cellphone: 202-372 7444
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit guardian.co.uk - newspaper website of the year
www.guardian.co.uk www.observer.co.uk
To save up to 33% when you subscribe to the Guardian and the Observer
visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/subscriber
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail and all attachments are confidential and may also
be privileged. If you are not the named recipient, please notify
the sender and delete the e-mail and all attachments immediately.
Do not disclose the contents to another person. You may not use
the information for any purpose, or store, or copy, it in any way.
Guardian News & Media Limited is not liable for any computer
viruses or other material transmitted with or as part of this
e-mail. You should employ virus checking software.
Guardian News & Media Limited
A member of Guardian Media Group plc
Registered Office
PO Box 68164
Kings Place
90 York Way
London
N1P 2AP
Registered in England Number 908396
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
--
Matt Seaton
Editor, Comment is free America
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/america
Direct line: 212-584 9938
Cellphone: 202-372 7444
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit guardian.co.uk - newspaper website of the year
www.guardian.co.uk www.observer.co.uk
To save up to 33% when you subscribe to the Guardian and the Observer
visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/subscriber
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail and all attachments are confidential and may also
be privileged. If you are not the named recipient, please notify
the sender and delete the e-mail and all attachments immediately.
Do not disclose the contents to another person. You may not use
the information for any purpose, or store, or copy, it in any way.
Guardian News & Media Limited is not liable for any computer
viruses or other material transmitted with or as part of this
e-mail. You should employ virus checking software.
Guardian News & Media Limited
A member of Guardian Media Group plc
Registered Office
PO Box 68164
Kings Place
90 York Way
London
N1P 2AP
Registered in England Number 908396
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302