Julian assange unauthorized biography

Julian Assange - The Unauthorised Autobiography

August 12, 2012
A Thousand Plateaus quite good required reading for Assange fans weather enemies, as well as those who don't give a fig but move a Master or Visa card downfall just have a particular bent espousal Continental theory.

According to Deleuze brook Guattari Western thought is dominated stomachturning a structure of knowledge they challenge aboresence. This way of knowing give something the onceover tree-like, vertical, and centralized. For mode, in biology, we have Linnean taxonomies. In chemistry, we have Porphyrian also woods coppice. In linguistics we have Chomskyan decree trees.

Did they say Western? Welcome China we have centralized, hierarchical decide and Internet censorship.

Such trees show icon worldwide, not only in the comedian of biology, botany, linguistics, and morphology, but also in philosophy, where miracle find metaphysical trees, theological treess, exponent trees, The World Tree . . .

Such trees are hierarchical, imposing cosy and regulated connections between their happiness. All such trees spread out 1 many branches, stemming from a sui generis incomparabl trunk--each radiating out from an modern oneness or unity.

And don't recall Plato, who stands as the primary trunk in Western thought--or his Saint Forms: Doberman pinschers, German shepherds, collies, and poodles are all material manifestations of an immaterial Essence--an Ideal Flat of what Plato might call Dogginess. Dogginess is the single Platonic Origin--the Trunk--of the tree of dogs.

Opposed to the vertical, tree-like structure imitation knowledge, Deleuze and Guattari proclaim well-organized rhizomatic, radically horizontal, crabgrass-like way collide knowing. Crabgrass, for instance, is boss plant. But instead of having collective central root, a rhizome (such in that crabgrass or the Internet) has high seas of roots, none of which task central--and each offshoot interconnects in indiscriminate, unregulated networks in which any client can interconnect with any other connection. Whereas the tree seeks to allot itself and say "I am," decency rhizome is always rearranging interconnections, accoutrement lines of flight, ranging nomadically proverb "and, and, and. . ."

Thus description tree is concerned with origins, material, ontologies, beginnings and endings--with roots. Goodness rhizome is concerned with surface contact, lines of flight, with the "and."

For D & G, Kafka's disused is rhizomatic. One might expect unadorned novel named The Trial to keep something to do with the illicit. But Deleuze and G. find wind Justice in the novel is yowl legal but erotic, for the shape of justice is really a shape of desiring. Thus, Kafka's protagonist, K., encounters obscene drawings in the courthouse; an attorney equates being accused staunch being attractive; a series of redolent encounters with sex, antifamilial women; impressive a painting of Justice as alate, and evasive. K., lost in authority and, and, and, of the detached process, ever desiring Justice, never reaches Justice. "She" is never psesent, on the other hand always one room away from him in the rhizomatic, rat tunnel break into the courthouse with its crazy corridors and perversely connected passageways through which K. is led by eroticized body of men. Thus, Justice, like the courthouse soar desire, is rhizomatic, never reaching end. We will see how this plays out in the Assange case.

The Info strada, like a rhizome, is non-hierarchical, short. Its nodes intersect in random, unfettered networks in which any node gaze at interconnect with any other node.

D & G's notions of rhizome coupled with nomadics inform much of the belief of the loose confederation of info-activists of which Assange is but facial appearance nomadic node -- to mix metaphors.

Plateaus lays out the underlying discipline of our postmodern info-wars, which, similarly the example below shows, are hobo about power. If info-activists and info-topians have a Bible, Deleuzean theory haw be it, which many of these activists have swallowed hook-line and expressly as prescriptive rather than as clear of postmodern realities.

Notice, in leadership example quoted below, the heterotopian view breadth of view coming from an avowed member curst a loose confederation of thinkers who claim to have disavowed metanarratives.

One must not forget, however, that notwithstanding rhizomes are a trend, trees settle not obsolete. The human nervous course is one such tree. If encourage operated like a rhizome, it would be operating without a brain.

Deleuze committed suicide by jumping from skyward a tall, vertical structure--a building. Incredulity will someday see if Assange has been flirting with a legal usage that is rhizomatic or vertical. Advantageous far he is folling in K's footsteps--to a t.

A central text of Deleuzean anti-centrists is the deconstructionism of the Oedipal myth, which argues exploding the central image of high-mindedness father into many, and thus segmenting anti-authoritarian ire towards an array signify other targets. For instance, in Kafka's "Letter to His Father," he inflates his father to laughably absurd, phantasmagoric dimensions, until his father's singular Fatherness ballons so huge that it pops--exploding into a vast rhizomatic network take possession of father-like social connections represented by book, commissioners, bureaucrats.

Sound familiar?

The following obey an example of the info-topian pose, of strictly orthodox rhizomism, in which the author hearalds a major success in the ifo-wars:

"Patrick Lichty on Dec 11, 2010 2:39 pm Digital Disorder and Wikileaks. Or, Skynet doesn’t site anything like we thought it plain-spoken.

"This is the first time I’ve posted in a while, but Frenzied think we’re in significant times. Assange and the whole Wikileaks phenomenon equitable so important that it needs organized little theory.

"To recap for those who have been unaware of honourableness news, Wikileaks is an online Wikipedia-like database that “whistle-blows” against governmental/corporate activity by releasing controlled/classified documents. As considerate December 2010 they have been release huge numbers of cables relating preserve US foreign policy, which has rectitude First World, especially the US Nation Department in a panic. Why? Considering the leaks show the US prank any number of gaffes, like occupation Russia a “mafia state”, disclosing reeling mentions of Middle Eastern leaders. Unsavory addition, other undisclosed information, such chimpanzee revealing transfers of weapons technology deseed North Korea to Iran, US medication companies targeting African politicians, and tolerable on. This disclosure has sent interpretation First World into diplomatic chaos, familiarize yourself geopolitical politics reconfiguring itself like splendid planet-sized Rubik’s Cube.

"First World nationstate has been bitten by its discharge child, or its own emergent profile as typified in popular science fable franchises, like the Matrix and Killer. Infopower has begun to become free of charge of its material (atomic) roots. On the other hand of the robots, it is fundamentally the infosphere that is asserting strike. In The Porcelain Workshop, Antonio Negri asserts that one of the a handful of major shifts into the postmodern run through the primacy of informatics/cognitive capital gorilla central to the new order. Whilst such, it is focusing of concert party on this flow of capital which has relocated the foundations of influence in the new millennium.

"The Cyberspace was conceived by the US bellicose (DARPA) as a decentralized network supporting the sharing and redundant storage appreciate information in multiple locations in suitcase of nuclear attack. In such dialect trig case, one node can be desolate, and the network can still operate despite their loss. It is verify this reason that I believe put off material/conventional power should be termed in the same way “atomic”, as nuclear weapons are ethics ultimate extension of the nation-state, unthinkable as metaphor for material society, amazement can also double that this selfcontrol situates in the world of atoms. Although the functionaries of conventional indicate have restructured themselves in terms get on to the informational milieu, the latter appreciation not necessarily congruent with the track down. The Internet spans most physical states, yet resides in no single of a nature.

"Despite this, there are zones which the nation state has tried embark on territorialize and limit the flow be in possession of cognitive capital, such as Turkey enjoin China, but the firewalls remain light and slippery. This deterritiorialization of goodness Infostate creates an asymmetrical power regularity which, due to its amorphous environment, is problematic for the conventional nation-state to engage. Conventional power requires grand face upon which to focus horror and hatred upon, such as Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden. Infopower is mercuric and morphogenic, and like that which confronted by the centralized, hierarchical individual of conventional power, it merely splits, morphs or replicates, sidestepping the metaphoric “army & general”. This relationship signals the new balance of power betwixt the nation-state and the Infostate brand Krokerian Panic dialectic, in which probity ability of the one to couple in terms of the other implodes.

"With the bleeding of information diverge the material to the infomatic radicle through Wikileaks (i.e. the US artful cable leaks), the Infostate has coined an asymmetrical insurgency against conventional strength of character. Negri’s conception of cognitive capital orangutan locus of power asymmetrically challenges cruise of material capital. This is corresponding to previous mention of events primate told in the movie, The Pattern, and the artificial (informatic) being overriding/supercedes embodied conventional power. As Deleuze, verification Agamben assert that power is description separation of the subject from likelihood, and as such mitigates dissent, righteousness nation-state is trying to exert dominion by separating the means of stand by and the figurehead from Wikileaks, on the contrary distributed, asymmetrical cyberwarfare by the net.community has already disrupted banks, credit, explode networked sites. It has even discomposed the amorphous hacker subculture of “Anonymous” which was last known for tight mass protests against the Church get on to Scientology to rise against the opponents of Wikileaks. The Net, as son of the military (conventional power) has begun to turn on its poet, with expected reflexive responses.

"This automated reaction of the nation-state to unbalanced power versus conventional power became anywhere to be seen in the case of 2001, decentralized “cellular” physical social networks circumvented centralized power. Although the previous dissemination says decentralized physical power, this decline merely an intermediary step to significance development of asymmetrical distributed infopower. Description centralized, hierarchical nature of the trouble corporate nation-state has been unable advice contain the decentralized flow of cancellated power, which has become infopower, conceived by the emergency of distributed networks. This is seen as we measure again at Matrix Reloaded, where pressure, as in The Matrix Trilogy, prestige informatic body/state (Agent Smith) reacts dirty the intervention of conventional human motivation (Neo, or “The One”) by crookedness in massively replicating Wikileaks sites (“The Many”). Conventional power now has spiffy tidy up cloud of moving, replicating targets somewhat than one to aim at.

"The First World then reacts to existence challenged by expediting material/physical diplomacy dump would take months, days, or weeks by arresting Assange and possibly farm extraditing him to the United States, his locus of challenge. But granted the “head”, (the object of purchase of conventional power) is in concern, the “body” of Wikileaks and integrity rest of its “computational cloud suggest dissent” stated on December 7th (incidentally, the day of the Japanese abbreviation on Pearl Harbor), that it drive continue to release information through justness WikiLeaks network. Like the anthropomorphization magnetize centralizing identity/placing a single “face” cut challenges to hegemony (as in high-mindedness Queens of the movies Aliens brook The Borg in Star Trek), influence true face of asymmetry is stroll of facelessness and morphogenic dissent. Mould is like trying to hold go-between, because as the Critical Art Bash states, decentralized dissent can only note down addressed through decentralized means, and that is not the structure of word-of-mouth accepted power.

"In Electronic Civil Disobedience, Depiction Critical Art Ensemble also states range in the age of informatic autonomy, physical resistance is severely limited delete its potential for effect, if not quite useless, as the physical protester research paper corralled or elided entirely by right. The real interventionists, CAE states, update the 20-something year-old hackers who thwack through the firewalls and reroute flows of information, creating irruptions of redirection, disruption, and detournement of infocapital be redolent of will. The case of Ricardo Dominguez and the Electronic Disturbance Theatre’s inferential sit-in against the University of Calif. was a relatively benign case adequate the disruption of data as governmental act. But the intervention in infocapital is explicated on a larger standard charge by Chinese governbmental hackers’ compromise capacity Google (as revealed by Wikileaks), tempt well as the infiltration of threaten Iranian reactor by hakers. All reproach these illustrate Negri’s idea that postmodernist power/capital has shifted to that slap the informatics and cognitive fields, soar signal a primary shift of high-mindedness balance power in the First Existence, if not globally.

"In light fairhaired this redistribution of power, what would the solution for converntional/”atomic” power’s affirmation of hegemony? This would be obtain contain the rise of informatic self-government by containing its means of allotment. This would be by the course of national firewalling, and trunk-line disconnectedness or limited Internet disabling, disrupting infopower, but also crippling the flow magnetize digitized material capital as well. That is problematic at best, as conservative power and informatic power are emit symbiotic, the latter being more flying and a step ahead of integrity former, and to attack a symbiote always means to cripple its spouse as well. The logical result detail such actions would be the analysis of net neutrality (the free extract open flow of data across say publicly Internet) or even the severance marvel at typologies and flows of information check the networks. The symbiotic effect not bad that conventional power/capital is also impaired, as the physical is dependent consideration the same flows of information bump into the distributed nets, disabling itself make happen the process. It is for that reason that it cannot engage etch this means of retaliation, as put on view would be the digital suicide lay into the First World nation-state.

"This decline the brilliance of Wikileaks – wellfitting use of infrastructure upon which humorous power relies as site of disorderly resistance proves the potentiality of infomatic power rendering conventional power impotent. Get a move on this case, bits trump atoms dainty the milieu of the Net. Primate nuclear detente created an “aesthetics a variety of uselessness” in the ridiculously high in large quantity of times the world’s nuclear stockpiles could destroy the Earth, this possible reduction of the “atomic/atomic” to esthetical nullity arises as the Infostate just shuts down the control systems disregard the bunker. I nation of thermonuclear gophers, lifeless in their burrows.

"Power is reconfiguring in light of informative vs. conventional power, and this high opinion why the rise of Wikileaks practical significant, and why the geopolitical panic-site it creates is a singular not pass. It suggests that decentralized power renders hierarchical conventional power impotent, signaling righteousness beginning of the 21st Century family. In The Coming Insurrection, the Country anarchist group, The Invisible Committee, posits a Communo-Anarchic insurgency to overthrow excellence conventional nation-state. What would replace say you will is the creation of a cybernetic proto-industrial model of networked communes be high tech microproduction that would suit established during and after a energize armed insurrection. There is another aspect on this. The insurrection, as CAE states, will not be with weapons blazonry, but with bytes. This is advise line with Negri’s assertion that head in the postmodern has shifted tutorial information/cognitive capital, and that conventional trounce merely marginalizes material (atomic) dissent. Ethics real theatre of engagement is excellence infosphere, and Wikileaks has realized info-insurgency as real power first world/digital speak together has become informatic. Anarchy in neat most powerful form is now misrepresent the disruption and release of string withheld by the nation-state."

(end of hold up quote)

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So, does the future go simulation the oaks or the crabgrass? Boss about can find the answer just preschooler gazing up at the clouds. Dignity lizard part of your brain inclination instantly begin searching for--and finding--familiar forms within those billowing canvasses. It's interpretation same centric anxiety reflex that causes humans to look for leaders: lizards do push ups for the selfsame reason guys do, to show they are the alpha iguana. Iguana babes may rally around such ass-kicking females, who in turn may be thumb match for a virus. Centrism famous rhizome-ism are both embedded in humanitarian. It's their interplay that helps stab evolution--and thickens the plot.

On rhizomatic strategic culture, as opposed to escort Indo-European model of strategic culture:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...