People wax lyrical about how Aaron Swartz was their hero and I think it’s fabulous that someone as deserving as Aaron would be revered.
What stays with me however, is that he didn’t get the support he needed before his passing. What scares me even more, is how many other Aarons are out there still alive, and not getting it either.
We take them for granted and don’t feel the impact of their loss until they are gone.
We are all guilty of taking for granted not just the people who risk their lives to stand up for us, but also the precious few organisations who facilitate them doing so and attempt to meaningfully support those who do.
The Courage Foundation is a classic example. Courage supports the seven most high-profile millennial whistleblowers in the world and would like to do more, but are limited by resource. Four months ago they announced a critical funding drive to back their core operations.
They asked for 100,000 pounds. They got $8,000.This is completely unacceptable.
How on earth are we ever going to save the lives of whistleblowers if the foremost organisation in the world acting to protect them can barely raise enough to pay for the basics of existence?What does all our love and admiration for Aaron mean if we sit back and watch the next Aaron die, and the next?
There are well established ways to emancipate the caged. The pressure has to come from media generated by the public taking action on the ground.
If we really, really want Chelsea out of prison? Stage an occupation outside the facility and refuse to move. 5,000 people camped outside the prison would do a lot more than 50,000 people signing a petition.
And it is the responsibility of those figures in our movements who have the most sizeable platforms to lead the call. Instead of just endless updates about what stupid thing this or that or the other pundit is saying, or updates on whatever laws are or aren’t being passed that the intelligence agencies all ignore anyway, start campaigning for others and don’t stop. You know you’re good at it when you set your mind to it.
Do it. Implore people to take action. Give them a framework to do it in. Then use your platforms to consistently build the momentum. Don’t give up until the objective is achieved. Be unrelenting.
Save our lives and back the organisations that are trying to. Because there are too few of us to squander.
I am nowhere near the top of the list of people who need help. I am not detained and I am not being tortured and I am not suicidal.
But sitting here in Moscow with two children and $50 to my name, not knowing whether I’ll still have a country to live in in a month’s time, all I can think is, please…
Don’t wait til I’m dead to make a meme out of me.
