This is the speech I gave at a demonstration last night in Melbourne for Julian Assange, whose extradition trial begins February 24th.
Julian Assange started a leak outlet on the premise that corrupt and unaccountable power is a problem in our world, and that problem can be fought with the light of truth. Corrupt and unaccountable power responded by detaining, silencing and smearing him. His persecution has proved his own thesis about the world absolutely correct.
Power is the ability to control what happens. Absolute power is controlling what people
think about what happens. Humans are story-oriented creatures, so if you can control the stories that the humans are telling each other about what's going on, you can control those humans.
This is the power of narrative management. This is why governments and billionaires use propaganda, advertising, buy up media conglomerates and fund think tanks, employ public relations and spin doctors, buy up troll armies and bot farms: because they know that those who control the narrative, control the world.
You can do whatever you like, as long as you can control what people think about what you're doing.
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