I think Transparency is one of the most important things we can do to fix this mess of an economy and government we have. So much is untraceable. So much is just guesswork as to how things are, how they work, what the heck is even going on. IMO government should be like 99% transparent. Government meetings should be available to view on TV or online. Government money should all be traceable. Congress and Lobbyists should all be in your face available to see. The exception being things of national security and REAL things of national security. Those politicians seem to like to mark everything as "national security" I mean look at the wikileaks, 99% of that information didn't freakin' matter. Just don't give out nuke codes, weapon plans, current military strategies, private information, witness protection, etc. Things that are ACTUALLY about national security or would cause real harm to individuals... Anyways, one everything is out for public viewing we can REALLY know what we're doing when we want cuts or whatever. It should be against the law to not provide truthful transparency and as much of it as possible. The government has no right to privacy unlike the individual. Realistic and unbiased reports about the effectiveness but in case that's not always possible (and it won't always be) all the information would be there for everyone and anyone to analyze. No secret meetings. No untraceable money. A real report on all the dealings of the government and where all the money is going, what the politicians are up to and everything. I don't know how realistic this is. I know it would probably also be costly to organize. But whatever... I think true transparency is one of the keys to a grand government. It would provide a more realistic map of how everything works so we can really get down to fixing stuff without it being guess work and reduce bullcrap. I'd go deeper but I'm late for a meeting.
The Govt is as transparent as they need to be. It's just the majority of people are dumb and do not even understand what the Govt is doing and why.
As was pointed out above that wikileaks information was information that clearly did not need to be classified, it just made some people/nations look bad. Clearly the government is not as transparent as it needs to be. As for what it's doing all I'm seeing is a run towards authoritarianism as well as a run towards destroying the dollar in the name of gaining votes, neither of which is good.
The question is what information do you need from the Government and why do you need it? For example people complained about not seeing Osama Bin Laden's body to verify the US Military did kill him. Why does anyone need to verify that Osama Bin Laden is dead, who have nothing to do with our Intelligence or defense?
Should the question not be why does the government need to keep things secret? As for bin laden why should we not know? Why do we need to take the government at its word without evidence? You know the government lies, right? The people in government are human after all.
You need the transparency so that the people can make the best judgement. It's half guesswork at this point. Even politicians don't always know what's up. We're supposed to vote for people who know how to fix things. But what needs fixing is obscured and we don't see how to fix it or if the politicians are bullcrapping us or not.
It's all politics. "Fix things" is subjective to the voters. Your definition of fixing things might not be mine. It has nothing to do with transparency. There is more than enough information that exists to understand what you need to know about what the Government is doing.
The question is why would they lie about this? All Osama would have to do is pop his head out and say he isn't dead. You have absolutely no need whatsoever to see Osama's dead body to verify the Govt killed him. That has no bearing on your life. There is absolutely no reason we need to see some face that has been shot just to ease our conspiracy theorists minds.
OK, so... Iran-Contra Operation "Fast and Furious" Multiple laws and principles based on biased studies (marijuana, the food pyramid, second hand smoke) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKULTRA#Experiments (CIA slip'n people LSD) There's a mess more of this stuff I could find. It's all real. So anyway you see the list above. I think these actions speak volumes as to why we need a more open government. I also have no idea why you have such faith in your government that you think it's just fine that you not be informed as to what they do. I am not nearly as secure with that. Our system runs off a nation-wide popularity contest; I do not innately trust the post popular people who run to have my best interest in mind when they get into office.
There is a clear distinction between intentionally misinforming the public to pass policy and transparency. Seeing Osama's dead body has nothing to do with transparency because that does not affect your life and you have no reason other than some sick fetish to see it. I trust the Government because I believe they have the country's best interest at heart and that they know more than I do when it comes to defense, Constitutional law, and anything dealing with foreign policy. I have no vested interest in whether or not the Govt is lying to me about things like killing Osama or why I can't smoke marijuana legally.
I don't think those two sentences work together. Government needs to be transparent enough that people do understand what the government is doing and why.
I don't trust my own accountant that far, let alone a bunch of people I've never met that insist they're in charge of me. And you do have a vested interest, don't you?
What is it that you don't understand what the Government is doing? It seems pretty transparent to me.
I don't blindly trust the Govt. I look at the evidence and the data and make conclusions then. Things like if the Govt actually killed Osama or if we should use X-Rays in airports means very little to me because I have no secret Intelligence that would make me any more informed than the Govt is.
I don't understand why the government does most of what it does. Why does the government choose to build a road in one place and not another? Why do some corporations get bailed out and institutionalized while others are allowed to fail? Why does a stimulus get spent in one way but not another? Are we keeping a military base open because we need it for strategic purposes, or are we keeping it open because it provides the economic base for a town somewhere? That kind of thing. And that's not even getting into the uncomfortable conspiracy theory stuff.
Isn't that kind of circular? You're saying that you don't need to be well-informed because you aren't well-informed.
If seeing Osama's dead body has nothing to do with transparency then why bring it up in the first place? Personally the only reason I see for them to not release the photos back when it happened was because it may have helped to incite violence against our soldiers. At this point I say release. I do not understand your attitude of "the government should only tell you what it thinks you need to know." Why do you think it is better to be run by a government that acts in secret than one that acts in the open? Why should the default be the non-release of information rather than the release of information. Please if anything just answer that because I'm having a hard time understanding why you would want the public to be less informed about the governments actions.
ModerateG, I agree with your sentiments. We do need a more transparent political system. I think it first has to start with reforming Congressional procedures.
