Cruel Intentions?

The Illuminati was originally a secret society founded in 1776 who claimed special religious enlightenment. Even today we still do not necessarily know who the Illuminati are, but we understand them as a society that has a lot of control over unseen things. In class this week we watched a parody video connecting the famous hackers anonymous with Illuminati.  Anonymous is a loosely associated international network of activists and hackers who generally believe information needs to be free. They believe hiding knowledge is a form of control. Through out the parody, reading, and discussion for this week a question that came up is whether or not a room full of people could agree on if hacking was ever deserved. 

As one watches the parody there are images of people in masks, quotes, and a few voice overs. The masks are a way for someone to remain anonymous and not having others know who you are. The masks are originally from the House of Lords when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up parliament in London, and they have gained popularity in modern day from the movie “V for Vendetta” in which a freedom fighter attempt to open peoples minds to the crimes of the government.  Since he is not able to do this by himself he recruits many follower who also wear the mask out into the streets to watch an attack on the government. These people believe that they are doing what is right and going against the leadership, taking away power and control. The police can shoot them, but they cannot shoot their beliefs or ideas.

One of the quotes that came up along the screen and plays into the idea of not being a able to shoot ideas and beliefs is “Because none of us are as cruel as all of us”. This is very important because a group of people is so much more dangerous than an individual. In class Emilie Durkheim was mentioned writing about the idea of collective effervescence. He explains collective effervescence as when a community or society may at times come together and simultaneously communicate the same thought and participate in the same action (Durkheim 1912). Anonymous fits into the idea of a collective effervescence because as we discussed, with a collective beast and belief you cannot cut off the head of the beast, the ideas and struggle will live on.  Anonymous is able to take down people with power and control by being a collective movement.

In the reading “We Are Anonymous,” anonymous hacked into the many accounts of Aaron Barr, who worked for a security company called HBGary Federal. Barr had expertise in cryptography and wanted to reveal how his social media snooping had uncovered information on a mysterious subject. He would not only get newfound credibility, but possibly maybe even contracts and subsequently more money. Barr decided that there was no better target for this than Anonymous. He went after anonymous with out having a plan as to if they fought back which eventually was a very large downfall for Aaron Barr. Anonymous soon learned him and of his password to all of his information such as twitter, Facebook, and work emails and information. Soon enough his business emails and customers information shared for the world to see with his private social media accounts sharing horrible rumors

As I mentioned, the question arises being hacked can ever be well deserved. In this situation I believe since Barr was trying to go after such intense hackers and didn’t even think to change his passwords that he deserved what he had coming to him. The question is also asked if I believe if it was ethical in which I do not necessarily believe it was the nicest thing to do, but putting up a defense when someone is trying to attack you is what many people would do. This article just shows one of anonymous’s stories, the parody explains a bit more in they want to be free. It is more than just people trying to figure out who they are and taking them down it is about having freedom taking down people who have power over them. I can understand being so frustrated by someone who has power over me and or others that I know that I would want display who they really are. Even though this may not be the most ethical way to handle matters I can understand the reasons behind wanting to expose someone for who they truly are.  It’s all about perception is the one thing we could all agree on. 

Photo Source:  https://www.google.com/search?q=none+of+us+is+as+cruel+as+all+of+us&biw=1105&bih=637&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwiiu5CKxKjLAhXNth4KHThXAhMQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=1_cKy6_J2V-qqM%3A