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| Edward Snowden and the flag of Ecuador. Image from Salon.com. |
Rehanging the crepe paper:
Escape to Ecuador
Edward Snowden is the latest insider who pulled back the curtain to reveal the wizardry of American Freedom as the diabolical machinations of a surveillance state.
By James McEnteer | The Rag Blog | June 25, 2013
QUITO, Ecuador — The colored crepe paper we hung up has tattered and fallen. The balloons we tied to the walls and ceiling have deflated or popped. Confetti remains in bags, unthrown. The welcome party we planned for the arrival of Julian Assange has had to be postponed indefinitely. Graffiti on the city walls prophesying his advent have begun to chip and fade away.
We know Assange is safe and still active in his Ecuadorian Embassy sanctuary in London. But we can’t help feeling disappointed that he never actually landed here among us. It’s not simply that we wanted the spotlight of his celebrity to shine a bit on the rest of us. There is so much here that we wanted to show him.
The bracing air of the Andes would revive his spirits. The sight of snow-covered volcanic peaks bespeaks a primordial reality which dwarfs the foolish vanity and paranoia of the people and the governments who want him silenced and punished. Julian Assange and Wikileaks have spotlighted the new political reality.
Our primary struggle now is not a conflict of countries or religions or ideologies against one another, but the wars of governments against their own peoples. The governments of China, Russia, and the United States have more in common with one another than they do with their own populations. Ours is a battle between state control and personal freedom.
The Turkish people know this. So do the Syrians and the Brazilians and the Egyptians. They have fewer illusions than Americans do because they can’t afford them. They have learned to trust their own eyes and ears rather than rely on the televised, predigested propaganda churned out by corporate U.S. media in service to the state.
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| Julian Assange and Ecuador’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ricardo Patiño Aroca at Embassy in London. |
Americans cling to their comforting delusions, that we are the greatest, freest country on earth, that the political landscape is painted blue and red, that liberals and conservatives are battling for dominance, and the extremes of tea-party libertarianism and radical leftist socialism should be reviled and feared.
All this is irrelevant and distracting, like the clash of Christianity versus Islam. Or the flood of professional sporting events and pornography that drowns our awareness with vivid images. Americans are bad at organizing, still suffering from the cult of rugged individualism. But when we do form trade unions or progressive political groups or student protests against wars or the depredations of Wall Street, the tentacles of government are quick to infiltrate, defame, and destroy.
Edward Snowden is the latest insider who pulled back the curtain to reveal the wizardry of American Freedom as the diabolical machinations of a surveillance state. Is he a hero or a traitor? Where you stand depends on where you sit. For all those growing fat off the surveillance state, the toady media, the corporate Congress, the social networks and other minions of the ruling oligarchy, Snowden is a trouble-maker, messing with the dominance of their masters.
For the rest of us, trying to survive and live our lives as well as we can, Snowden is a freedom fighter, exposing the intrusion of the state apparatus into our private affairs. That is why we have begun to rehang the crepe paper here, inflate new balloons and prepare once again for a welcome party fit for a man of principle and courage.
Snowden would add luster and gravitas to our community. We can only hope he really comes. Then we have to find a way to spring Bradley Manning. Manning’s only crime was believing he could appeal to the conscience of the American people over and above the violent authoritarian regime masquerading as a democracy.
It would be great to have Assange, Manning, and Snowden all here in Ecuador. They could all have faculty positions at the IIF (International Institute of Freedom). I think they’d have a lot of valuable lessons to teach. You know we’ll have a good time then.
[James McEnteer is the author of Shooting the Truth: the Rise of American Political Documentaries (Praeger). He lives in Quito, Ecuador. Read more of James McEnteer’s articles on The Rag Blog.]
The governments of China, Russia, and the United States have more in common with one another than they do with their own populations. Ours is a battle between state control and personal freedom.
Well said, but missing a key element. The very kinds of goals that the progressive left works for, creates a population dependent on the largess of the US government, therefore not likely to recognize, let alone actively oppose, its loss of personal freedoms and the increasing power of the state.
The left creates zombie citizens that are unable and unwilling to resist state control. In fact they demand such control and clamor for even more. Here are two key examples. Employment & Medical Care.
– Unions, only function when they have the federal government exert some degree of control over employment. They are dependent on the state and federal governments to assist them in their battle to expand their power and membership. They are partners with the government in control over commerce.
– Now that the governments (state and federal) are completely entwined in the availability and delivery of healthcare, every American is now 100% dependent on the governments for medical care. We are all partners with the government in increased control over healthcare and by extension our own lives.
If the government that uses its imperial power in secret to bring other nations to heel, and destroys all who threaten their ability to do so, is also your partner in achieving progressive goals, then you create people that will tolerate anything their government does to keep the benefits and favors flowing their way.
The progressive left in America is PART of the oppression of Manning, Assange, and Snowden. While they may speak their opposition, the actions they take increases the state’s power over its citizens at every turn.
– Extremist2TheDHS
A similar article and analysis from the opposite side of the political spectrum.
– Extremist2TheDHS