Should the government be allowed to keep secrets from their people?

[Spectre123]

I personally believe that those in power should not be allowed to keep secrets from the public, especially when it is related to the safety and privacy of the people. It is by keeping such knowledge a secret that these people can remain in power. By keeping the public keeping the people in the depths of ignorance, powerful governments and people can rob them of their liberties and do as they desire. It is true that a small fraction of things should be kept from the public, but the current state of affairs show that the reverse is true in our day and age. (And to show how vehemently I adhere to what I say have even established a website(intelrepository.com) where I publish and even sell exclusive information not meant be seen by everyone.

I would like to hear everyone else's thoughts on this as well.

[dimonstration]

I personally believe that those in power should not be allowed to keep secrets from the public, especially when it is related to the safety and privacy of the people. It is by keeping such knowledge a secret that these people can remain in power. By keeping the public keeping the people in the depths of ignorance, powerful governments and people can rob them of their liberties and do as they desire. It is true that a small fraction of things should be kept from the public, but the current state of affairs show that the reverse is true in our day and age. (And to show how vehemently I adhere to what I say have even established a website(intelrepository.com) where I publish and even sell exclusive information not meant be seen by everyone.

I would like to hear everyone else's thoughts on this as well.

I think they shouldn't have secret to the public when it comes to safety and privacy since the people elecrted them to do their job on leading the country and their top priority is the safety of the  people who put them in that position.

But there’s an exception to this rule if the information will cause panic and fear to citizen while the government can solve the problem discreetly. Government sometimes need to make a secret in the public when it comes to dealing with terrorist that dangerimg public safety so that their intel will not be leaked out to the enemy.

[Merit.s]

I personally believe that those in power should not be allowed to keep secrets from the public, especially when it is related to the safety and privacy of the people. It is by keeping such knowledge a secret that these people can remain in power. By keeping the public keeping the people in the depths of ignorance, powerful governments and people can rob them of their liberties and do as they desire. It is true that a small fraction of things should be kept from the public, but the current state of affairs show that the reverse is true in our day and age. (And to show how vehemently I adhere to what I say have even established a website(intelrepository.com) where I publish and even sell exclusive information not meant be seen by everyone.

I would like to hear everyone else's thoughts on this as well.

Government shouldn't keep anything secrete from their people so that the people will see that the government is transparent in their dealings with the people. This will build more trust from the people on the government. It is only a government that doesn't have the interest of the people in mind or a corrupt government that wouldn't be transparent or keep secretes from their people. They know that if you know some certain things,they wouldn't be able to manipulate the system because one will fight for his right. But if it is something that will cause panic and make the people feel unsafe,like some disease outbreak and the government can solve the problem. I can accept that it can be secretive so that nobody knows what's happening.

[BADecker]

Get a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Then the people are government, and they can change the government any way they want.

How do the people do that? By voting on the issues. If 51% say government can keep secrets, and only 49% say no, I guess the minority is screwed.

Then there should be a civil war to see who is stronger, the 51% or the 49%.

And all the while the people are arguing, the people in government do whatever they want. How can they get away with it? The people are too dumb to use the lawful power they have to take out government people lawfully.

TheTinyDot - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6b70TUbdfs.

[Gyfts]

I don't think they should but consider how society nearly collapsed because of a disease that had a 99.9% survival rate with hypochondriacs begging to be locked and demanding others adhere to their own delusion and big government fetishes. Some people are too fragile to hear the truth. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

[Gozie51]

It is true that a small fraction of things should be kept from the public, but the current state of affairs show that the reverse is true in our day and age.

My view on it is that government should keep some secret. Those tiny secrets is what makes them government in fact because they are always first to get the information. Depending on the secret, the government may relate it to the people if they have tried on their own part to handle it. Like for example if there is pending evading of the land, the government can give prior notice to the people and direct them on what to do.

Also, you have to know that there are secrets that are sacrosanct to be kept within the confines of the government and security agencies. This is concerning the security of the country. Security meetings and outcomes of security meetings and intelligence gathering are not to be devulged to the people. So the government holds the right for certain secrets for the peace of the land.

[Stalker22]

~

Depends. What kind of secret? There are secrets that can harm individuals or groups if they are made public or if the wrong people come into their possession. For example, the identity of spies and secret agents operating in foreign countries, working in the best interests of their home nation. Or for example, national security information, like defense strategies or diplomatic negotiations. In all these cases, keeping the secrets secure is important to protect individuals, or even broader societal interests.

[BADecker]

Here is a secret in the United States that they don't tell you. A Supreme Court judgment is nothing. What?!?!

Nobody has to follow a SCOTUS judgment until they are forced. And no US Marshal system is required to enforce any SCOTUS judgment unless they want. And it's the same with all court judgments. The judge simply makes a judgment, and then it is up to the 'winner' of that judgment to find somebody who will enforce the judge's ruling.

If nobody enforces a judge's ruling - like the US Marshals, or the local Sheriff, or the local police - the judgment is useless. All judgments are useless without enforcement by some enforcement agency voluntarily enforcing them.

Why would an enforcement agency enforce judgments? Because their agency heads might get voted out of office if the people don't like the record of what they do.

So you see, much of the way government works is based on the voluntary compliance of agency heads. Until the people force Congress people out of office for allowing Biden to continue, He can do whatever he wants.

[blockman]

I personally believe that those in power should not be allowed to keep secrets from the public, especially when it is related to the safety and privacy of the people. It is by keeping such knowledge a secret that these people can remain in power. By keeping the public keeping the people in the depths of ignorance, powerful governments and people can rob them of their liberties and do as they desire. It is true that a small fraction of things should be kept from the public, but the current state of affairs show that the reverse is true in our day and age. (And to show how vehemently I adhere to what I say have even established a website(intelrepository.com) where I publish and even sell exclusive information not meant be seen by everyone.

I would like to hear everyone else's thoughts on this as well.

If it's about the safety and sovereignty of the country, things should be spoken publicly and people should be allowed to know the current state of its affairs. But we do understand that for some matters, those that are high profile information and records of the government should be kept public. Well, going back if it's concerning the public and many citizens, there shouldn't be any secrets about it. Because it's an important matter for the people to know what's happening in the country and its status.

[swogerino]

It is easy to vote pro this,government should keep secrets from their people but they need to safeguard them much better than the elections in the USA 2016 where Russia intervened (funny but yeah there where USA is the strongest,in IT systems) and made the result to favor Trump as a president.These type of secrets should be kept with utmost importance by people able to keep them and nowadays this is an absolute must because as the example with Russia above demonstrated that evil people are already there waiting for that perfect moment to attack a certain country.In this context I always agree that government should keep some secrets from normal citizens.

[Zlantann]

I personally believe that those in power should not be allowed to keep secrets from the public, especially when it is related to the safety and privacy of the people. It is by keeping such knowledge a secret that these people can remain in power. By keeping the public keeping the people in the depths of ignorance, powerful governments and people can rob them of their liberties and do as they desire. It is true that a small fraction of things should be kept from the public, but the current state of affairs show that the reverse is true in our day and age. (And to show how vehemently I adhere to what I say have even established a website(intelrepository.com) where I publish and even sell exclusive information not meant be seen by everyone.

I would like to hear everyone else's thoughts on this as well.

A government should be open and transparent to its citizens. There should be open financial reports to enable the citizens to know the financial position of the country. The public should also have the privilege of requesting government documents that interest them. In terms of security, citizens should know when they are at risk and possible ways of handling these issues. But some classified documents are not for public consumption. Exposing such documents can put the country under security threats internally and even externally. Documents that relate to military intelligence and technology should be guided against leaks. Some medical experiments should also be kept secret because they could be stolen by competitors or misused to carry out bad activities.

[Myleschetty]

There's nothing that comes with an advantage that won't present a disadvantage if the government did keep things related to safety and privacy a secret do you know easy it will be for bad actors to use the information to achieve their online theft?
There's nothing wrong with the government keeping things about safety and privacy private if they're not misusing it.

[Gozie51]

There's nothing wrong with the government keeping things about safety and privacy private if they're not misusing it.

The government will not misuse secret if they are secret. They are used for public good and benefit. If government has a secret about a few people who are eating the economy dry then takes a decision against those few for them to be punished against what they have been doing, that should not be seen as misuse but as the right thing to do for the economy to benefit the majority. If few people are benefiting from the government and the majority are not, the government is suppose to take adequate measures to break such clique so that all will enjoy governance.

[yazher]

Most secrets that our government has concern money nowadays, and of course, we know that they are getting money from some sources that we expect them to get, like smuggled items that are entering the country with their permission. Also, from other countries, their government are receiving money from drug dealers and this is not new to us because we know such countries are accurate, and that's why elections are deadly because what they are fighting for is worth their life. It is all about the money when it comes to running to get that unique chair and having all the privilege to control the taxes.

[Queentoshi]

I personally believe that those in power should not be allowed to keep secrets from the public, especially when it is related to the safety and privacy of the people.

I do not see anything wrong if the purpose why something is kept secret is not so that the public does not know about it, but so that the information that is being withheld do not cause people to panic and lead to an unstable society. Where it will be bad for government officials to keep secrets is in situations where the information that is not shared is one that is capable of saving lives or preventing a catastrophe. We the citizens cannot handle every information, that is why we have elected leaders to be as transparent as possible but also know how to discreetly solve some problems that the public does not need to know about.

[coolcoinz]

I do not see anything wrong if the purpose why something is kept secret is not so that the public does not know about it, but so that the information that is being withheld do not cause people to panic and lead to an unstable society.

That's a very common argument. What you're saying is: we know better what's good for you, so we'll decide what you know and what you do.
The Soviets were using it all the time and I give you a good example. When Chernobyl blew up, they did not evacuate Pripyat and did not warn the world abut the disaster. They did not want people to panic, because they knew better what's good for them and for the Soviet Union.

They did the same exact thing when submarine Kursk went down. It was possible to save the sailors, but keeping everything a secret was more important at first. Would you like such people to decide for you? Would you want your child to die because the government doesn't want you to panic, or wants to keep being seen as a superpower where accidents don't happen?