Nation of Secrets
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15
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Award winning journalist Ted Gup exposes how and why our most important institutions increasingly keep secrets from the very people they are supposed to serve.Drawing on his decades as an investigative reporter, Ted Gup argues that a preoccupation with secrets has undermined the very values--security, patriotism, and privacy--in whose name secrecy is so often invoked. He explores the blatant exploitation of privacy and confidentiality in academia, business, and the courts, and concludes that in case after case, these principles have been twisted to allow the emergence of a shadow system of justice, unaccountable to the public. Nation of Secrets not only sounds the alarm to warn against an unethical way of life, but calls for the preservation of our democracy as we know it.
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Though this book was enjoyable, it was one of the toughest things I've read in quite some time...imagine reading a 300-page newspaper article. Its primary theme, though, is one to which we should all serve notice. Excessive secrecy - in government, business, etc.- will threaten our way of life here in America. From my career-based knowledge of the intelligence failures preceding 9/11 to some serious but ultimately trivial things that are happening in my extended family, covering up the truth brings heartache, creates an even greater web of lies to keep a secret suppressed, and so on. Needless to say, this book resonated with me.
Gup presents a number of examples of secrecy and information classification gone awry. What is most disturbing are those cases related to homeland security. What could be more important in a time when we send our sons and daughters abroad to fight a war to protect the very homeland that supports our way of life? I see this personally when I am forced to classify (albeit the “light” classification of FOUO) an after-action report of an emergency exercise. Does the public not have a right to know what strengths their emergency responders have? Does the public not have a right to know of their community's vulnerabilities so it can prepare itself?
In short, pick this book up to learn how you can open the doors of government, the press, big business, and so on. It is paramount. It is our responsibility as Americans. It is patriotic.
J.
