Why The Aaron Swartz Story Matters To Us...

[WillyT]

Now I gotta admit that I was late to this story, but...

This kid, this hero, for Internet Freedom, this starry eyed optimist...

Who helped create the RSS feed at age 14, and fought against the "privatization" of the Internent...

Hung himself Friday because of the pressure from the Government.

I really really DO NOT want to hear from the "rule of law" peeps, not as long as the corruption, and the self-aggrandizing of the thieves of Wall Street and Washington D.C. still prosper.

This was a loss to us all... while those that get multi-million bonuses for failed leadership continue to roam free, and effect our very own lives.

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022185111

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022181200

Post:

This article was amended on 13 January 2013. It originally stated that prosecutors accused Swartz of stealing scientific journals from a computer archive and making them freely available. Swartz in fact never made the articles available to the public.

Post:

Swartz regularly blogged about his own life on the website aaronsw.com. In a post written in January 2007, he discussed the nature of suicide.

"There is a moment, immediately before life becomes no longer worth living, when the world appears to slow down and all its myriad details suddenly become brightly, achingly apparent," he wrote.

His funeral is due to take place on Tuesday in Illinois.

[KittyWampus]

1. He hung himself because he had suicidal depression. And he was arrested because he broke the law

AGAIN> for a second time. The first time he got away with it.

He was an activist. Activists get arrested. If he couldn't handle the pressure or face the trial, then he had no business breaking the law a second time.

He did a lot in a short amount of time. I wish he'd gotten the help he needed.

[Still Sensible]

2. + 1 n/t

[dsc]

3. yeah like those bankers who laundered drug money for the cartels

no wait, they didn't get arrested.

[Fumesucker]

4. None of us know what will break us until it happens

And the punishment he was facing was out of all proportion to the crime he allegedly committed, particularly given the way the government has been so lenient on some whose crimes have been far more damaging to our society.

[KittyWampus]

6. the punishment he was facing is not equal to the punishment he MAY have ended up receiving IF

he were convicted.

And I will state again, activists either understand they face conviction/incarceration or they are being unrealistic.

Perhaps it's too bad he got away with it the first time.

It's definitely too bad his family didn't make sure he got the help he obviously needed.

[Fumesucker]

9. Our society would benefit much more if some banksters were to face that sort of punishment

But we all know that's not going to happen, it's more important for the powers that be to make an example of an "activist".

[Nuclear Unicorn]

16. I don't know why we're yelling about banksters

From one of the DU links provided:

From the beginning, the government worked as hard as it could to characterize what Aaron did in the most extreme and absurd way. The “property” Aaron had “stolen,” we were told, was worth “millions of dollars” — with the hint, and then the suggestion, that his aim must have been to profit from his crime. But anyone who says that there is money to be made in a stash of ACADEMIC ARTICLES is either an idiot or a liar. It was clear what this was not, yet our government continued to push as if it had caught the 9/11 terrorists red-handed.

Banksters, as loathesome as they may be at times, are a non-entity in this case.

[easttexaslefty]

18. You do not know WHAT

His family did or did not do. Or could have done. The last thing his family need is blame heaped on them by a know-nothing.

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. Your compassion is noted.

[KittyWampus]

7. Thank You. Depression is a horrible illness.

[Fire Walk With Me]

15. I was being sarcastic.

I hear you on the depression part, but this:

"He was an activist. Activists get arrested. If he couldn't handle the pressure or face the trial, then he had no business breaking the law a second time."

is baffling. Even if he knew he had a weakness, perhaps a fatal weakness, he could not stop being an activist. Activism is what activists do. Painters paint, activists activate.

He deserves applause and compassion, not severity. The government prosecutor who hounded him with minimum charges of 35 years should be removed, and there is a petition now online to accomplish just that.

Also, free Jeremy Hammond and Barrett Brown. The Steubenville multiple rapists are walking around free and activists? In jail because the government is terrified of them and want to use them as an example. I say, let the multiple rapists be an example instead.

[WillyT]

8. That's My Point... The WRONG People Are HANGING Themselves...

There is no "justice".... There is no "morality".

To the powerful... it's JUST US.

But thanks for playing.

[WillyT]

10. Queston: Are You Human ???

[WillyT]

12. Do NOT Want You On MY Jury...

[jollyreaper2112]

13. Yes he was depressed

And taking on this kind of challenge probably wasn't the best thing he could do for himself mentally. He also didn't appreciate the support he had from all of his friends and family. Depression robs you of your reason. If you could see clearly you likely wouldn't be suicidal.

It's a tragedy that he could not get the help he needed. The government prosecuting him while ignoring real criminals likely didn't help.

People who respect rules without asking why they are there are stupid sheep. The people who challenge those rules must understand that they are hoisting a dreadful cross upon their shoulders. You don't fix what's broken without breaking the hands of those who benefit from that system. You're going to be breaking their fists with your face.

[WillyT]

14. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said !!!

[WillyT]

11. Kick !!!

[NBachers]

17. My brother Alan sent me this link earlier this evening. He said, "Turing revisited."

Reading this helped flesh out the information I needed to learn about Aaron Swartz.

The comments are informed, and interesting.

http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2013/01/13/aaron-swartz.html

It's a bit painful to read - our dad hanged himself also - this whole thing hits quite close to our own lives.