2010-12-10, 04:21 PM
[COLOR="green"]The difference with the book burning thing is that it's something that won't happen, because it's against the way the US is. I know we could delve further into it, but that's a totalitarian mindset, something that the US citizens exist for. We technically have more power than the Government, so they can't rule us in such a way without a possibility of a revolt.
But the problem with releasing these things is what it can do. Just imagine, as an example, a past US leader had the leader of another country assassinated. I'm sure this has happened before, actually. Now, after that, things changed, and everyone went on with our lives. But now, in the current world, we're very friendly with the nation, we share lots of resources that help our nations thrive. If that secret about the assassination got out, it might cause them to just abruptly end trade and negotiations with us.
The problem is that you can't change things you've done in the past. You can only change the present and the future. I mean sure, we could not commit any more illegal actions and be fully thorough in integrity from now on, but that doesn't change the past secrets, which might be better off remaining hidden. Not to mention the actions of certain people in government reflect on the entire country, like how Bill Clinton cheated on his wife. Him losing integrity through that hurt the country's political goals, as well as the country's faith in him, which can be horrible for a country in times of need. That's why JDR didn't let anyone outside of the government know that he had polio, because he needed the country and the people of the world to see him as strong, forcing him to hide his weaknesses.
About Assange and Wikileaks, I find it to be slightly out of the US's jurisdiction, unless said documents and information had the "possession of this is illegal" stamp on them. However, just because he gets stolen information anonymously doesn't make it any less stolen. It's like stealing something and pawning it; it's not illegal, but it's kind of disreputable to the shop owner, and doesn't change the fact that it was stolen in the first place. It may not be able to be gotten back, but it sucks pretty hard in general.[/COLOR]
But the problem with releasing these things is what it can do. Just imagine, as an example, a past US leader had the leader of another country assassinated. I'm sure this has happened before, actually. Now, after that, things changed, and everyone went on with our lives. But now, in the current world, we're very friendly with the nation, we share lots of resources that help our nations thrive. If that secret about the assassination got out, it might cause them to just abruptly end trade and negotiations with us.
The problem is that you can't change things you've done in the past. You can only change the present and the future. I mean sure, we could not commit any more illegal actions and be fully thorough in integrity from now on, but that doesn't change the past secrets, which might be better off remaining hidden. Not to mention the actions of certain people in government reflect on the entire country, like how Bill Clinton cheated on his wife. Him losing integrity through that hurt the country's political goals, as well as the country's faith in him, which can be horrible for a country in times of need. That's why JDR didn't let anyone outside of the government know that he had polio, because he needed the country and the people of the world to see him as strong, forcing him to hide his weaknesses.
About Assange and Wikileaks, I find it to be slightly out of the US's jurisdiction, unless said documents and information had the "possession of this is illegal" stamp on them. However, just because he gets stolen information anonymously doesn't make it any less stolen. It's like stealing something and pawning it; it's not illegal, but it's kind of disreputable to the shop owner, and doesn't change the fact that it was stolen in the first place. It may not be able to be gotten back, but it sucks pretty hard in general.[/COLOR]