When WikiLeaks became newsworthy some years ago I personally felt it was a bad idea. Mainly due to the fact that classified information is usually palatable retrospectively. I kind of didn’t want to know what the government was keeping secret because it probably wasn’t pleasant to know. Since WikiLeaks has let people know all those years ago and continued to do so have we actually benefited? Now my stance has somewhat changed because the aim of releasing information wasn’t malevolent. It was simply to hold the government or institutions to account. What has happened though is the distrust of governments and institutions is paramount. Somewhat like what would happen with a royal commission but with more fallout. Though the people who were responsible are let off with no charges pending. While Assange is rotting in jail probably ready to die at any moment.

These days the gloves are off. Politicians seem somewhat worse than ever. People are venting their frustrations at corporate corruption and government negligence. Though most seem unfazed. It is business as usual when the pandoras box was opened by WikiLeaks, other post fact conspiracies abounded and they were no longer conspiracies anymore but facts of life. Assange has become the sacrificial lamb of the powers that be for dealing solely in truths. Incarcerated for committing no crime at all. WikiLeaks isn’t to blame for the attitudes that pervade our society these days. People turned the facts into fantasies. Fake Moon landings, the local council is dumping all of your recycling into landfill, chemtrails, your water is contaminated. The fantasies in a way have become fact. What did we expect? Post truth, Michael Jackson’s pedophilia, satanic cults, sacrificing children and drinking their blood.

All the while the actual real people who are getting jailed and most likely tortured are forgotten. The mechanisms of distrust spew forth. At the end of the day the government makes a show of not caring. Ex Prime Ministers talk at right wing events. Though they have to look like they are doing their jobs. Yes we are investing in renewable energy, yes we are meeting our commitments to the Paris accord. Nothing is sacred anymore. Does anybody actually trust the government besides climate change denialists? Can we ever trust anything or anyone again? That is what happens when the truth comes out. It tears us apart. I honestly just never wanted to know. Now though everyone knows everything about every public figure and more. The stuff I hear almost everyday. I can’t blame WikiLeaks because of the current circus of information as they were actually uncovering facts like great journalists do. The last question is, who can you trust when trust stops working? So to spell it out. We started at facts and ended in fiction. All because we can’t bring ourselves to trust anything except the trust we have in distrust.