One of the biggest issues I have with the government is the amount of secrecy that surrounds it. The government is by the people, for the people so why can't they keep the public more informed about their doings? Plain and simple the government should be much more open about it's endeavors in order to give the people much more security because if you ask the question "Do you trust the government?" more than half of the people asked will say no they do not and its with good reason.
During President Obama's time in office, something the Obama administration likes to do is withhold or censor information, materials, records or files. Last year alone the government was cited to withhold information 8,496 times which more than doubles the amount of times he withheld information in his first year of office, in that time it was 3,568. This shows that things are growing increasingly more private and protected and for what reason is still to be unknown, but it also raises the question "What is the government hiding from us?"
Now it's not like we're not wanting this information from the government because that's far from the truth. Last year there was an eight percent increase for the request of information from journalists, businesses etc., and the government responded to those requests and made an increase of their own in responses by two percent. The thing still remains that the information given out was censored or just flat out denied. Once again the government finds some sort of loophole to get out of a certain situation that could be potentially detrimental to them.
As unrealistic as it seems, the government should flat out give us the information we ask for. It's our right to know what goes on in our country and what direction we are headed in. The hypocrisy that surrounds this nation is appalling and it is time for a move in the right direction and why not start with the simplest form or honesty? I can't speak for everyone, but when I hear that the government does this sort of thing it makes me thing of how much of the story do we really get and how much of it is true? 9/11, aliens, area 51, chem-trails, the illuminati, global warming, fema camps, under ground societies and the list goes on of things they could be lying or covering up to this nation. As stated earlier we have a right to know.
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ReplyDeleteIn his article, “Government Secrecy” Langston Behr discusses the issue of how much government information is kept from the public and the impact this has on our trust in the system. I agree with his stance that the government should make more information available to its citizens. To those who argue that doing so poses a security risk, I think if someone was in fact interested in being malicious towards our country, they would figure out a way to get whatever information they wanted.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting that during the President’s second term, the Obama administration withheld double the amount of information withheld in his first term. In addition to the question, “What is the government hiding from us?” I have to ask, “Why are they hiding it?”
I don’t know if I wholly agree with the broad statement that the government should flat out give us the information we ask for. But if denied the information, we should be informed as to why - we deserve an explanation. This may be just as unrealistic, but at least we are treated with more respect.
As for underground societies, the illuminati, and whatnot - I’ve often wondered about these stories myself. Mr. Behr, I’d love to talk more about conspiracies with you!