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Julian Assange; Hero or Villain?

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Julian Assange Hero or Villain?

The question of whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose organization can be credited with releasing thousands of classified documents from various countries, is a hero or a villain depends entirely on one’s political opinions. Those who believe in transparent government and freedom of speech/publishing would call Assange a hero. Those who believe governments must have some secrecy from citizens would call him a villain. As a believer in the ideals America was founded on it is clear that Assange’s actions are heroic. He is fighting to keep the average citizen informed of any corruption within their government, fighting for the mainstream press to stop supporting the government’s views on …show more content…

What will the revolution of the 2000’s be? Governments have already been de-stabilized in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Who says that the protests won’t continue over to the United States? Protests in other countries happened because the systems were outdated and corruption was suspected. This is certainly true in the U.S., where the government’s inefficiency is being blamed on outdated technology. Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget admitted that the gap between the public and private sectors results in “billions of dollars in waste, slow and inadequate customer service and a lack of transparency about how dollars are spent,” this “lack of transparency” is exactly what Assange is fighting against. (3) WikiLeaks forces the United States government to think about the extreme secrecy it operates under and whether this is the best for its citizens. Without Assange the “lack of transparency” would only grow, making him a hero.

Julian Assange has been called many names; traitor, anarchist and even a high-tech terrorist, but the proper name for him is hero. WikiLeaks is an organization that truly works for the people. Keeping people informed with the inner workings of government, putting pressure on the press to acknowledge the truth and forcing change within government. WikiLeaks is driving journalism into the future and Assange is the driver.

Sources:
1) Jackson, William E., Jr. “A Liberated

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