this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2024
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Swedish human rights activist Anna Ardin is glad Julian Assange is free.

But the claims she has made about him suggest she would have every reason not to wish him well.

Ardin is fiercely proud of Assange's work for WikiLeaks, and insists that it should never have landed him behind bars.

“We have the right to know about the wars that are fought in our name,” she says.

Speaking to Ardin over Zoom in Stockholm, it quickly becomes clear that she has no problem keeping what she sees as the two Assanges apart in her head - the visionary activist and the man who she says does not treat women well.

She is at pains to describe him neither as a hero nor a monster, but a complicated man.

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 3 months ago (3 children)

How dare she not view the world in stark black-and-white terms!

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

She's throwing out the whole playbook and trying this new thing the hipsters are calling: "Nuance" . This lady has some balls, what's next?? CONTROLLING YOUR EMOTIONS???

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

I would assume most rapists aren't government whistle blowers and their victims most likely have no reason to hold a nuanced view.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

I love me a lady with huge balls.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

A(n actual) Christian deacon who believes in forgiveness????

ObViOuSLy HeS iNnOcEnT!/1!

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 months ago (1 children)

She just seems to believe in due process and fairness. Obviously, what happened to Assange so far hasn't been either.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

I mean her case was investigated and he was freed to leave the country afterward. It didn't come back with a vengeance until it could be used as a means to put him where the US could get at him.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Speaking to Ardin over Zoom in Stockholm...

That place does seem to have a certain effect on people.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

What about the 3rd man, who espouses his organization isn't an arbiter of information, and yet, repeatedly prevented Russian leaks from being published? 🤔

And with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where is wikileaks now?

Cozy Bear really appreciated having such a loyal publisher, I imagine.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago (3 children)

This, to me, is less important than the fact that this woman is publicly talking about how someone can do a bad thing but still be a public good, something not talked about enough in a world where when someone does something bad, it makes people ignore everything else they're doing.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (6 children)

I have struggled with this a lot in recent years. For example, I grew up with Ender's Game as my favorite book. Orson Scott Card is a racist/misogynistic/etc POS, and it has tainted my view of his books. People are experiencing this with J. K. Rowling right now.

I like to think I can keep the artist separate from their art, but it's hard.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I dealt with that as a kid with Roald Dahl because he was super antisemitic, but he also wrote amazing children's books. I guess for me it depends on how much they put such ugliness into their work. Lovecraft, creative as he was, had no problem being racist in his writings and I just can't read them even though I love the mythos. Dahl didn't do that.

Card and Rowling are somewhat different cases because they didn't start by writing terrible things, but they got to the point that their ugly beliefs began to seep into their books.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Dahl is another great example. I loved his book as a kid, and still read them to my kid now.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Me too, but I couldn't get through Great Glass Elevator. I try my best to voice all the characters, and I couldn't get through the president's phone calls with China, even toned down.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

I had the same experience with Arthur C. Clarke.

He moved to Sri Lanka to dodge all the accusations of pedophilia. It was all hushed up. As was the custom at the time.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

I like to think I can keep the artist separate from their art, but it’s hard.

You can't, but in some cases the art stands for itself without the artist. Basically, you can separate the Art from an Artist, but not the Artist from the Art. (if that makes any sense...)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

The Rowling shift is a gut punch in particular for me because I also long admired her specifically. A single impoverished mother writing her drafts on napkins while taking the train to work. Her work for Amnesty International. Her fierce rejection of right-wing extremism and fascism...I remember saving her Harvard commence address as being the most powerful one I've ever heard. The road to hell is paved with good intentions? I don't know. Frustrating because INFJ-to-INFJ I relate to her personality type.

Meanwhile her books were incredibly impactful of my upbringing and my relationship with my mother as well.

Controversial though this may be I don't view her as some evil anti-Semitic trans-lynching nazi in lieu of her views. Misguided, sure, but in the aggregation of all she is I'm still struggling with the mixed bag of her character. Maybe that's my own cognitive dissonance; maybe it's hers.

Edit: Side-note, Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow were incredible books. I'm only heartbroken that the opportunity was missed to have Anton Yelchin cast as Ender in a better film adaptation we shall never see.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (7 children)

I was with you until you called her misguided. She is way beyond misguided at this point. She's gotten so hateful that even Elon Musk told her to tone down the anti-trans bigotry.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/elon-musk-jk-rowling-trans-obsession-rcna151323

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The worst part with Rowling is she just keeps doubling down, and directly uses her money and influence to make other peoples lives worse.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (10 children)

Exactly the same way I felt reading your comment when you inserted astrology for nerds into it!

How could you ruin your previous work so profoundly?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I was a big fan of the Belgariad growing up... that one is fucking rough.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Uuh what? What did Eddings do? (Genuine, I don't know)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, it's pretty fucking rough so I don't want to post it here - if you Google "Eddings abuse" you'll get the results.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Eddings

TL;DR: child abuse of their adopted children in the 1970's.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I had the same experience with Scott Card. I loved the Ender books, the books about his older brother trying to be a good person when he was a "bad child" really resonated with me.

I was so disappointed when I looked him up and saw how hateful he really was.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

That's fair. That isn't where my own head is currently but I do appreciate nuance for once. People can be complicated, and I'm certain she knows the real Assange better than most.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I still see absolutely no reason to lock him up. Just because he's biased towards one side that doesn't make the crimes of the other side any better. Ideally, yes, he should publish everything. But that's not the case. And it's still irrelevant.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

And with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where is wikileaks now?

I mean what do you want him to leak? Everything is out there for everyone to see.

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