The American Way

As we watch the secrets of the United States Government dance across our computer screens through WikiLeaks, we witness the reactions of our peers, neighbors and community. Within these reactions is a wide spectrum; one like you might find if you tried to pin down religious beliefs. The opinions are passionate and usually unyielding. Inside all of the arguments and positioning, there is no way to know if what we read is fully real and what is “fact-based” (as quoted from the current WikiLeaks site). This leaves an impartial observer with a choice: to care or not to care? That is the question.

For those who choose not to care they walk away and don’t look back. This is not a part of their world anymore. Is this apathy or integrity? When faced with piles of documents and confusing testimonies, should we even have an opinion? Assuming we can not know anything is true, what gives us the right to claim a side? And yet, with such potential harm or, at the very least, possibility of a political cultural shift, when should we be required to care? When, as citizens of these United States, should we demand of ourselves to participate despite blurry lines? When do we declare apathy and when do we claim integrity?

So, let’s assume we decide to stick around and put our toe in the WikiLeaks water. The facts swirl around our heads and we see visions in the distance. One figure on the horizon stands in a town square and holds the American flag proudly in one hand while clutching his children and wife closely with the other. He fears for his life and the lives of those he loves. He opposes WikiLeaks because it makes him fear for his national safety. Next to him stands a young woman (it might just be Ms. Nebraska) holding a riffle in her hands. She shouts that we should stay off her land and she will fight, by any means necessary, to keep the United States as the leading world power. These are activists and they want what is best for their country.

As we continue to scan the horizon, we witness two more compelling figures standing in front of a courthouse. The first figure is a young, idealist who has a computer in one hand and the Bill of Rights in the other. He wears a blindfold to symbolize his opposition to being blind to the truth and regularly makes donations to fund the efforts of WikiLeaks. Beside him stands a young woman who was taken from her home and brought to the US after American soldiers terrorized and killed her family in Vietnam. She holds a tattered picture of her parents and beside her, on the ground, are the scales of justice. She tells her story over and over in the hope that what happened to her in her childhood does not happen to another family. She is hopeful that WikiLeaks and the resulting shift in government secrecy will turn a spotlight on the US, thus preventing them from inflicting suffering on innocent families. These are activists and they want what is best for their country.

As a person with little knowledge of WikiLeaks and the governmental secrets exposed, I walked into this scene ready to stand with any of the characters described. Walking in as not an especially patriotic person, but one who understands that the US offers freedoms and luxuries not found in most other places on earth, I could imagine clutching my loved ones closely or even drawing my gun (metaphorically speaking) in opposition to WikiLeaks. I could imagine wanting to disassemble that which might jeopardize our lives and our lifestyles.

Similarly, I am not one who thinks any thought should be said, but find peace in the knowledge that no matter how radical, stupid or brilliant my thoughts might be, they have a right to be heard. In addition, I am not one to think the government always acts on behalf of its people and knows that there is a level of shadiness in Washington that is difficult to even wrap my brain around. For this, I could imagine standing beside those who seek to expose the corruption and use their stories to paint a different picture of “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” I could imagine seeing WikiLeaks as a powerful ally in my efforts to bring dark truth into the light.

So is WikiLeaks treason or is it the American Way? When I first began hearing the opinions of those in the town square, I was naturally alarmed at the potential for harm and danger. Was WikiLeaks giving out the position of our troops? The location of the president when he had no protection? Was it sharing the combination to the vault? (What vault? I don’t know. It just seems like there would be one somewhere.) After the initial research and hearing the accusations that WikLeaks was the cause behind the assisination of a national leader and other vague reports of soldiers being exposed and killed due to WikiLeaks, I was ready to join Ms. Nebraska and hold my weapons up against the creators of WikiLeaks. But, upon further investigation, there was no way to substantiate these claims and, for every claim WikiLeaks was the root cause of these deaths, there was another proving WikiLeaks held no inkling of responsibility.

Reading more, I began to discover the leaks were not only about confidential military tactics, they were accounts of human rights violations. Child prostitution and drug use among US Military Private Contractors? Big Pharma using blackmail to ensure their ability to keep testing pharmaceuticals on children in Nigeria? Trading money and a meeting with Obama with other countries willing to move around prisoners from Guantanamo Bay so the president can make it look like he fulfilled a promise? Is this Hollywood or real life? Is this the real reason behind the outrage and call for Assange’s assignation? Are we learning that our government is dirtier than it is vulnerable to violated military secrecy? I was ready to stand beside the computer geek and the Vietnamese woman in front of the courthouse and use my voice in favor of WikiLeaks and all it stands for.

But instead, I stand in the middle. Confused and tired, I throw my hands up in despair. Like a child with no power over how my parents ran the household, I am a small citizen with no access to the information and insights needed to truly understand all of the dynamics at play. Even if I were, what in the world could I do about it? Fund WikiLeaks? Even WikiLeaks doesn’t claim to always know the truth. Take up arms against WikiLeaks? There are things they have brought to the surface that need to be known. So, I become apathetic. I say I am not enough and I stare into the horizon. I wonder, am I an activist? Do I care enough? Sadly, I think that this is one the thing I know to be true: some fight in the Town Square, some fight on the steps of the courthouse, and most decide to go back home and get on facebook. This is the American Way.