Friday, January 21, 2011
Public officials here to serve us
Public officials here to serve us
Would you feel comfortable if you had a few hired hands, and maybe a maid, a butler, and a gardener, who insisted that you had no right to know what they were doing while they worked for you, maybe even locked the doors behind them while around your valuables, yet still insisted on having the run of your property? Me neither. Then why do we allow those servants in government to get away with this same behavior?
When the Curry County Citizens Courthouse Committee decided, against the better judgement of some of its members, to conduct its business in secret it demonstrated exactly why its meetings must be open to observation. If you want to be making recommendations that will affect the lives of others or will determine how other people's money will be spent, you have no expectation of privacy in that role. Power without oversight is dangerous.
When you or I want to protect our privacy from government or other meddlesome busybodies, we are told we wouldn't object if we have nothing to hide. Yet, we are the masters. Being told this by our servants is nonsense.
I realize this committee isn't exactly "government", but it isn't exactly private individuals minding their own business either. Their actions will have governmental repercussions on their neighbors. Whether these repercussions are negative or positive depends on the principles of those involved and on whether the individuals are being subjected to manipulation or are coming to their own conclusions in their own way. How can this be known if the group dynamics are not watched.
Of all secrets, government secrets are the most dangerous and the least justifiable. Government secrets often kill. Exposing filthy secrets to the sterilizing light of the sun is the only healthy choice. Using "security" as an excuse for secrecy doesn't hold water.
As Ben Franklin noted, security and liberty have a strange relationship. If you spend your precious liberty to purchase some security, you will find that the security you thought you were buying was only a photoshopped simulation made to deceive you and get your money.
Protect yourself. Watch the people behind the curtain and don't let them do anything in secret. Even when it's a small, local matter.
When the Curry County Citizens Courthouse Committee decided, against the better judgement of some of its members, to conduct its business in secret it demonstrated exactly why its meetings must be open to observation. If you want to be making recommendations that will affect the lives of others or will determine how other people's money will be spent, you have no expectation of privacy in that role. Power without oversight is dangerous.
When you or I want to protect our privacy from government or other meddlesome busybodies, we are told we wouldn't object if we have nothing to hide. Yet, we are the masters. Being told this by our servants is nonsense.
I realize this committee isn't exactly "government", but it isn't exactly private individuals minding their own business either. Their actions will have governmental repercussions on their neighbors. Whether these repercussions are negative or positive depends on the principles of those involved and on whether the individuals are being subjected to manipulation or are coming to their own conclusions in their own way. How can this be known if the group dynamics are not watched.
Of all secrets, government secrets are the most dangerous and the least justifiable. Government secrets often kill. Exposing filthy secrets to the sterilizing light of the sun is the only healthy choice. Using "security" as an excuse for secrecy doesn't hold water.
As Ben Franklin noted, security and liberty have a strange relationship. If you spend your precious liberty to purchase some security, you will find that the security you thought you were buying was only a photoshopped simulation made to deceive you and get your money.
Protect yourself. Watch the people behind the curtain and don't let them do anything in secret. Even when it's a small, local matter.
(As written; not as published)
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