The reason it's illegal to disseminate information the people need to know in order to make informed decisions is because it's in the interests of those who rule -- the banks and military/industrial complex -- to keep such information secret.
So of course it's illegal. Those who rule make the laws, so the laws naturally protect their interests.
For example, the reason this country entered World War I on the side of the Entente (England and France) is because the Wall Street banks had lent money to both sides, but much more of it went to France and England than to Germany. When it looked like England and France might lose the war, we jumped in on their side. We had a financial interest in helping them secure victory.
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This was not known outside government and Wall Street at the time. Of course, the government spearheaded an anti-German propaganda campaign which the public swallowed, and patriotic young men lined up to volunteer for combat in the trenches. The truth only came out when the pertinent government documents were unsealed years later.
But in a democracy the people decide. They can only do so if they have truthful and real information. That's why this Wikileaks controversy is so very important.
New York Times photo: Charlie Chaplin presides over a war rally on Wall Street, 1918. Click on the image for a full-size version.
2 comments:
Dave, that picture was interesting.
I didn't know there were so much involved with the beginning of WW1. But that actually does figure.
After Teddy Roosevelt we were an empire, at first mostly a hemispheric one.
WWI was our first European adventure, and followed on our involvement in China and conquest of the Philippines.
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