A rambling, somewhat melancholy, essay on WikiLeaks, Assange, cypherpunks, diplomats, and the state of the world today. As I said, rambling. His view on diplomats is a little skewed, and his view on the state of the world post WikiLeaks is despondent.
I don’t say these cruel things about Julian Assange because I feel distant from him, but, on the contrary, because I feel close to him. I don’t doubt the two of us would have a lot to talk about. I know hordes of men like him; it’s just that they are programmers, mathematicians, potheads and science fiction fans instead of fiercely committed guys who aspire to topple the international order and replace it with subversive wikipedians.
The chances of that ending well are about ten thousand to one. And I don’t doubt Assange knows that. This is the kind of guy who once wrote an encryption program called “Rubberhose,” because he had it figured that the cops would beat his password out of him, and he needed some code-based way to finesse his own human frailty. Hey, neat hack there, pal.
But, it has some really good bits on cypherpunks.
Bruce Sterling on WikiLeaks