Julian Assange is making a grave moral error by publishing the private client details of Swiss bank customers. This was always going to be the folly of a man who lacks coherent moral principles. He does not realise that not all secrets are bad. If a man points a gun at your head and demands 'your money or your life', are you going to avail his offer because you don't want to keep secrets. This is the same reasoning that people hide money from the government, and the same reason they evade tax. This moral relativism has the potential to impose immoral persecution upon 'morally' innocent people. Switzerland is a state that has a lower level of coercion than other countries. It is not morally coherent, its just better by a relativist standard..or a matter of degree. Democracy is extortion and Switzerland is a democracy.
The good news is that WikiLeaks need not exist. I would not be surprised to see it disappear, nor would I miss it. The good news is that it will in all likelihood be the precursor to a group with a sounder philosophical base than it. It can be expected to spark a plethora of 'copycat' organisations. The problem of course is that governments around the world will conspire to end such 'leaks'. They will adopt computer systems to stop people copying data; they will globally adopt laws to stop such action. But Assange does at least show that 'where there is a technical capacity, there is a way. But can we also count upon tech geeks to be a great leader AND philosophically correct? It cuts down the odds significantly.
With this latest action, WikiLeaks is helping global governments to persecute private persons. It will want to be very sure of its principles. These people have a legitimate moral right to their wealth....even if those rights are not acknowledge in flawed, contradictory law. Even though statutory law contradicts the spirit or 'principle' of common law.
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