Matt Hunter:
One of the most frustrating conditions for a human is a feeling of a complete lack of control over his life. In terms of entry into "traditional" politics, the average person is more impotent now than he has been since the signing of the Magna Carta. Modern democracy has deteriorated to the point that instead of worrying only about the next election, leaders now obsess over the next tweet. If traditional parties, institutions and leaders lack the courage to do anything that may be unpopular, or embark on a journey that will last longer than four years, where does that leave the populations they represent?
Want to know the real reason that you constantly hear about "road rage", "air rage", "shopping rage", "walking rage"? Everyone feels terrified and powerless; terrified that they don’t know what they should be doing with their lives, and powerless to change their world in a meaningful way. Boiling over with anger and fear, they will seize upon any opportunity to relieve the pressure through minor dominance displays– you might not be able to do anything about the Gulf oil spill, but you can sure as hell berate that store clerk for his slow service.
Some people turn to the numbing, stupefying preponderance of reality TV to avoid feeling the pain and ennui that our lack of direction creates. Some turn to a culture of gratuitous consumption. But this kind of distraction can only last so long, and doesn’t appeal to everyone.
U Mad? Good.
So what is Anonymous?
So what? What are a bunch of "pranksters" going to possibly be able to accomplish?
Open Letter from Anonymous to Media Outlets (1/4/2011)
Subject: Anonymous - Operation Tunisia
Dear Journalists,
It has come to our attention that the ongoing riots in Tunisia have by and large escaped the notice of the major Western news networks. It is the responsibility of the free and open press to report what the censored press cannot. The people of Tunisia have asked for our help and we have responded through launching a new operation, Operation Tunisia. We are asking you, the journalists, to respond to the
Tunisians' appeals for assistance at this most troubling time.
The Tunisian government led by President Ben Ali has shown an outrageous level of censorship, not only blocking the websites of dissident bloggers but also sites like Flickr and any website or news source mentioning Wikileaks. In a show of blatant disregard for the guaranteed right of free speech, over the past 24 hours Tunisian government officials have hacked e-mail and Facebook accounts of anyone who has taken actions labeled as "activism" (which may be as "dangerous" as planning a protest, or as innocent as commenting on a discussion board for a Wikileaks related group). Entire Facebook accounts have been commandeered by the Tunisian governments, who have even gone so far as to change profile pictures to a pirate ship in a mockery of those who stand for freedom of speech.
We in turn have launched DDoS attacks against the websites of the Tunisian prime minister and his corrupt government, the stock market, and the primary DNS server of Tunisia - thus successfully bringing down many of the websites ending in .tn. We have accessed one of their websites and defaced it by placing our Open Letter to the Government of Tunisia on the main page - a screenshot of the result can be seen here. In addition, we have taken steps to ensure that Tunisians can connect anonymously to the internet and access information that their government does not want them to see.
There has been an almost complete absence of prominent coverage. We ask, why is a news source like Al Jazeera one of the few covering these earth shaking riots while the rest remain quiet? The world is getting the impression that unless western economic interests are involved, our media does not care to report upon it.
Perhaps you didn't know? Now that you do, you can help us spread the news. After all, you do not have to wear a mask to do it.
Sincerely,
We are Anonymous.
We are legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Can't have a serious DKos diary without a graph now can we?
Google Trends search for "Tunisia" for the past 30 days.
Tunisians fought and died for their freedom. The graphic truth of their sacrifices slipped past some of the most advanced and repressive firewall systems in the world. Anonymous was there to share their joys, their fears, their anger, and their hopes with the rest of the world. It's one thing to read the newspaper, it's another thing entirely to have a front-row seat to the extreme measures that established powers will use to maintain their position while at the same time witnessing said powers disintegrating under the enormous force of the people standing up and refusing to back down.
Tunisians have discovered a secret: People are not powerless. Fear is only an emotion, not a master of fate.
One does not change the world with snark diaries, meta wars or endless complaints about Sarah Palin.
In memory of Mohamed Bouazizi, March 29, 1984 – January 4, 2011