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Comment by meroes | Hacker News Reader

Why should I care so much more about his physical and mental maltreatment by the legal system over the other millions experiencing the same everyday? If you asked why public discourse ignores this in general I would understand.

Making no claims about his guilt or innocence.

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There are, of course, atrocities everywhere all the time. Change generally isn't sparked by routine atrocities rumbling along in the background though, but by people coalescing around specific atrocities that gain high profile for whatever reason (largely random) which serve as an avatar for all the others. So I suspect you have it backwards: the mistreatment of others isn't a reason to dismiss Assange's complaint, but rather to elevate it. Maybe this will be the one that finally catches fire and helps all the others.

>Change generally isn't sparked by routine atrocities rumbling along in the background though, but by people coalescing around specific atrocities that gain high profile

Exactly.

Taylor and Shaver are people worth rioting over. Instead we've got protests because some much less sympathetic people were killed in less inflammatory (though obviously still pretty terrible) circumstances. Not exactly what civil liberties advocates were hoping for but there's no reason not to roll with it because maybe the cops will finally be reigned in a little (hopefully a lot but the government always drags its feet about curtailing its enforcers).

Assange might be an asshole weirdo but if he's what gets us reform then why not take it?

I hate this argument. How can you care about the millions if you literally do not care about the one?

I don’t care much about Assange but that’s a fair statement.

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