<i>I’m reminded that all too often our culture judges people by their actions in the worst moments of their life ... We don’t seem to have a cultural construct for good people who made mistakes.</i><p>As the author stated, we don't know what happened. But it does seem that people, like Ian (and Aaron Swartz), who dedicated their lives to improving systems for the greater good tend to have a defiant sensitivity to abuses of power.<p>The world needs people like that alive and kicking for as long as possible. Sometimes it takes an unfathomable amount of persistence to get things moving in the right direction, but it can and does happen if you don't give up.