Who's afraid of the big bad truth?

Last Friday morning I heard the highly respected journalist John Pilger speaking during a radio interview. He spoke about Julian Assange and Wikileaks and I found his words to carry great wisdom.

I believe we have entered a new revolution, the Transparency Revolution, a revolution that will be no less impactful upon human kind than the previous revolutions; agrarian, industrial and information. These previous revolutions have upset the establishment and de-stablised social and institutional structures by challenging the status quo; the Transparency Revolution has the same potential to bring about a change in how we live and how we think.

Wikileak’s contribution to the Transparency Revolution has upset people, people in government, people holding power, people in the establishment. Those same people are now reacting to damp out the disturbance caused by Wikileaks, hoping it will go away (if Wikileaks does go then other forms of disturbance will appear). This is a typical reaction by those ostensibly in control of the system (in control in their own minds); kill off, discredit or denigrate the source of annoyance and thereby maintain the status quo.

But what is Julian Assange and his Wikileaks creation doing that is considered so wrong by some? In my view what Assange and Wikileaks are doing is promoting truth-telling. What would happen if we all started to tell the truth, to ourselves, to those important to us, at work, in life? What would happen if we started to listen to the truths of others to gain new perspectives?

I’m not advocating a thought-less truth-telling applicable under all circumstances. Sometimes withholding the truth, distorting the truth or being dishonest maybe necessary. In particular circumstances where I expect a dire outcome I may do these things to protect myself or others. I make a conscious choice to deceive in the hope of avoiding a difficult or harmful situation. But in the reality of most lives (particularly for many of us who can access the technology to read this online) these circumstances are thankfully rare or they never occur.

So, why not tell your truth? If we are not truth-telling then what are we trying to protect? If I deceive myself what do I want to protect myself from knowing or feeling? If I deceive others with my excuses of “I don’t want to hurt their feelings”, or “They’re too sensitive and will react badly”, what am I really protecting, avoiding or trying to avoid? Perhaps my own discomfort in dealing with truth.

So why are world governments reacting so strongly to Wikileaks version of truth-telling? What are the institutions of power uncomfortable about, avoiding or trying to hide? I’m not wanting to promote a conspiracy theory (there are too many out there already) but I am supporting the work of Wikileaks and others like it. The Transparency Revolution has started; let’s get used to it, celebrate it and support it.