Bronze Statues of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Bradley Manning unveiled in Berlin--Powerful!

[BrotherIvan]

92. You are catching on one point to try to "win" your argument

And you're instead looking petty and foolish. You do realize that the artist is from Italy and that the interview you are reading is just a small part of what he said. Europe, you may be surprised to learn, is also much more progressive when it comes to LGBT rights, so I doubt he is a homophobe by default. But more importantly, the artist has chosen a moment when each person is standing up against being accused. It is artistic license in this case and is showing that Ms. Manning stood up to the powers while in uniform. I highly doubt that she would have any problem whatsoever to this stunning tribute.

But the bigger issue is you think she should be in jail for exposing state secrets and that Obama had every right to say she was guilty. I think she should be free; I think she's a hero. I bet she would be happy to be free rather than know you defended her right to the correct pronoun.

SS: The individuals you’ve sculpted are vilified by political establishments all over the world. In various ways Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Bradley [Chelsea] Manning are all prisoners and have had to accept huge restrictions on their freedom. Why are they heroes for you?

DD: They are heroes because they show us how much control governments have over us. We have to understand the difference between control and privacy. Privacy is sacrosanct. It is a basic human right. With the new technology it is easier for the government to control us. That is not democracy, in my opinion, but it is also important to know why and how they control us.
We need to have the courage to know the truth. Sometimes people don’t understand and they say, “It doesn’t matter if they know everything about me.” This is very wrong.

SS: In the past your work has taken a more abstract form, this time you have chosen a very direct, realistic form.

DD: I deliberately chose to model them in a realistic fashion—an ancient form of representation. The message has to be clear. People have to be able to immediately recognize them.