Wikileaks and Rape Accusations.

Capital "A" Asshole or just a plain old asshole?

We can be grown-ups here. We can entertain the idea that Wikileaks is performing a valuable service while acknowledging the strong possibility that Julian Assange is himself an asshole who treats women like they’re objects he can exert his massive power issues on. We can criticize Interpol for treating these alleged sex crimes more seriously than they ever treat sex crimes and maintain sympathy for women who reportedly were quite afraid they had been exposed to unintended pregnancy or worse. Maybe we can even do one better than that, and accept that more than a few men who consider themselves liberals or even leftists---or may even claim to be feminists---still act like women's concerns should be dismissed and our rights can be transgressed with ease. I’m not accusing Assange of anything, but I seriously think it’s silly to think the accusations couldn’t be credible.

The source says it far better then I can, go read the whole thing.

I think it's clear that Julian Assange is a colossal asshole and attention whore. But you know what - that can all be true and he can still be performing a valuable service. Also, being an asshole is not a crime. Rape is a crime certainly, and if it turns out he did what he's accused of (continuing sex after consent was removed) then he's guilty of that crime. That's for a Swedish court to determine.

People who say that he wouldn't have to face his accusers if he hadn't massively embarrassed a world superpower are right in the facts and wrong in the conclusion though. It's not that Julian Assange is being unfairly asked to face the music when other, random accused are not; it's that they should all have to. What Mr. Assange is facing should be the norm, but often isn't.

As for Wikileaks, I think it's a force for good - he's doing what any good journalist should - shining a light on our government's actions. The state does not just need to do good, it needs to be seen doing good. If they're embarrassed over Wikileaks revelations on their behavior, then maybe they should do better.

Would I personally like to get to know Julian Assange? No. He strikes me as exactly the sort of person who would piss me off within the first ten minutes of getting to know him. I'm still glad that he made Wikileaks.

Introverts in an Extrovert's World

My post about disliking how salespeople intrude on me hit a chord. The simple fact is that this isn't going to change and my only options are not shopping in stores or learning to deal with it. Dealing with it is probably going to be a statement along the lines of "I'm just looking right now, but I'll find you if I have any questions."

Apparently most of my female friends are introverts, which is probably something I could have figured out if I'd bothered to calculate it.

It does underline that it's an extroverted world out there and I'll always be a little off in it. Not to the point where it's discriminatory you understand. More that I have to put up with lots of little indignities analogous to what a left-handed person must go through. To get things done I always have to go outside of my comfort zone. Making phone calls when I'd rather email for example. I'm never going to be the head of a company or an elected official because I'll never be comfortable doing the glad-handing that's required. Leadership roles self-select for extroverts. Humans are social creatures and extroverts are simply better at being social. Routine social interaction is something I learned only with difficulty and a lot of time and observation.

The two biggest problems are dating (regular readers know that crippling social anxiety is one of the two things keeping me from dating) and what I call the introvert-tax. The introvert-tax is whenever you pay full price for some big-ticket item where all the extroverts know the price is negotiable. Cars are a big one, and I'm very happy that some brands have abolished this practice.

Casual observers might doubt that I (or the numerous ladies who responded to the earlier post) are introverts. Certainly we don't act that way when we're in comfortable surroundings like an SCA event, and that might lead people to thinking we're like that all the time. This suggests to me that for most of human history being an introvert wasn't a drawback. It's certainly not a problem when you're comfortable with your tribe-mates. It's only when societies grow to the point where routine interaction with strangers is required that it becomes a problem. Mostly the "problem" is just the constant low-level stress of having to be around people and it's easily treated with self-imposed time-outs. Rarely it's crippling and the time-outs consume one's life and you become a recluse. I'm somewhere in the middle. I can function reasonably well, but there are large chunks of my life that I'm not satisfied with because of it.