Slashdot Mirror
Statues of Assange, Snowden and Manning Go Up In Berlin
HughPickens.com writes: RT Times reports that Alexanderplatz square in Berlin has become the stage for a provocative art piece which celebrates whistleblowers and encourages ordinary citizens to speak out. "They have lost their freedom for the truth, so they remind us how important it is to know the truth," says sculptor Davide Dormino. The life-sized statues of the three whistleblowers stand upon three chairs, as if speaking in an impromptu public meeting. Next to them is a fourth, empty chair. "The fourth chair is open to anyone here in Berlin who wants to get up and say anything they want," says the artist. Dormino, who came up with the idea together with the US journalist Charles Glass, specifically chose a classical bronze statue for his depiction – and not an installation or abstract piece – since statues are usually made of establishment figures. According to Domino while men who order others to their deaths get immortalized, those who resist are often forgotten, so "the statue pays homage to three who said no to war, to the lies that lead to war and to the intrusion into private life that helps to perpetuate war." Activists and members of Germany's Green party unveiled the life-size bronze statues on May Day.
No matter what you agree with what Manning and/or Snowden and/or Assange have done, no one can deny that they are ordinary folks, just like you and me
What makes them special is the system
What I mean is, if the supposingly ' Democratic System ' that we have is truly democratic, that the system would never do despicable things it accuses THE OTHER SIDE (them 'Commies') of doing, such as Trampling on human rights, violating the Constitution, spying on its own citizens, and so on, neither Manning, Assange nor Snowden would have any reason to do what they have done
It is The System which makes them what they are --- Because The System has become so goddamn rotten that the three ordinary folks had no choice but to tell the truth
I have tried to imagine what I would do, given the same circumstance ... and the only honest thing I can say is, I simply do not have the guts to do what they did ... yes, I have yet to grow my own pair
Dammit, once again the Europeans give Obama undeserved recognition!
Is a heroic sacrifice to open an escape route from a burning building any less heroic because the people inside decided they'd rather roast marshmallows than flee?
Even if we here in the US refuse to organize to bring our government to heel, at least the truth of the rot has been exposed to the rest of the world, so there's some hope that nations whose population have not abandoned democratic responsibility can fight its spread into their own governments.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
War Resisters Remain in Canada with No Regrets
Many opponents of the Vietnam war fled to Canada rather than face conscription, "An estimated 125,000 Americans fled to Canada in the 1960s and '70s to avoid the Vietnam War military draft, according to the American Veterans of Foreign Wars" according to the article
The town of Nelson planned to build a memorial to these folks, who once they settled into Canada became exemplary citizens and active participants in their communities.
The flood of hate mail from the USA caused them to reconsider.
If your children ever found out how lame you are, they'd murder you in your sleep
Slashdot's feeding the Russian propaganda sites now?
Why not, most newspapers here in the US feed US propaganda. They don't report the true news or else they omit what is really going on. Just look at the NY Times in the leadup to the Iraq war, they help Cheny/Bush go to war for non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Look at the mess we're in now. We're recruiting terrorists like mad now. We're really hated by lots of folks. Just because of our wanting to take Iraq oil.
Statues erected to promote freedom of speech and tell people they should not be afraid to say when there is something going wrong are considered "provocative".
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
"A guy who went straight to the Russians"? you mean, a guy whose passport was revoked by the Americans while in Russia. You just responded to someone's claim of paid shills by raising your hand--God, you guys are so bad at this!
I guess you don't keep up with current events, but actually the people in Germany doing this have also been trying to get asylum for Snowden. It's not like they woke up one day and decided the best thing they could do is a statue, it's part of an ongoing effort to bring attention to the cause and put pressure on the government.
Note to submitters: People don't RTFA, so you can't expect them to be knowledgeable about our Google the subject either. It's worth including useful info like this in the (short) summary because otherwise half the comments will be like this.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC