Friday, November 9, 2012
Government Censorship
When Oedipus' brother in law comes to Thebes with news of how to dispel the drought, he is hesitant to tell in front of all the people. Could this be related to government today and how they sometimes don't want to tell us the truth? Should they tell us the truth about everything they do? Why or why not?
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I believe that the government does not want us to know the truth, because they fear making themselves look bad. In Oedipus, creon knows that the news will damage them as we'll, therefore he wishes to keep it quiet and secret.
ReplyDeleteThe government covers things up in my opinion because they fear the reactions for their terrible deeds. Who knows what our government truly does in the shadows of the world.
DeleteThe government is here to serve us and only us. It is their duty to inform the public of what they do and why they commit these actions, not to select what bits and pieces of information they choose to reveal. People would argue that the truth could harm national security but I view the truth as a check on corruption.
ReplyDeleteToo bad that's not how it really works...
DeleteI agree the government's duty is to simply serve the people. I think a lot of public officials have lost sight of that very valuable principle.
DeleteIt is a good thought, but no. With a nation full of firearms and citizens ready to use them, telling us all of the crap that would piss us off even more could be catastrophic. An amount of truth should be more, but too much and it would be a bad situation.
DeleteWell, if anyone knows anything about our Government, it's that they are exceptional at dodging questions and saying only what they want to get across to the people. Especially if it is a valid question, that desperately needs an answer, they will do their absolute best to tell the people the most psitive thing that they want to hear. Of course the president doesn't want to constantly remind us of our national debt and growing unemployment rate, that's just nonsense!
ReplyDeleteI think it's better they don't tell us everything. If they did, our entire country would be in riots 24/7.
I completely agree Tess. The government keeps everything to themselves due to our society's lack of responsibility with important information.
DeleteIf the government were to tell us everything, this country would be in chaos. It seems when "we", as a society get too much information about a particular situation, tempers flare and unwanted opinions are heard. I believe that in most cases, the government should not give us information. If the government was to tell us everything, they would just sugar-coat everything and make themselves look ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteWow I pretty much copied your first sentence. Anyways, I agree. Even if they were to let it all out, they would still blur out many of the details.
DeleteI have a conflicting opinion of government censorship. I believe the government should not have the power to censor anything,including their own actions, as it breeds corruption, and limits the power of the people to be able to decipher what is right and what is wrong. Yet, on the other hand when our founding fathers were in the process of creating this country, namely during the 2nd Continental Congress, they closed the doors and told no one of their actions for months at a time because they knew it was the only way opinions could fully be heard and decisions could be made. So is government censorship right or wrong? I do not know.
ReplyDeleteIf the govt. told us everything, there would be chaos. They need discretion, but not too much of it. For example, the details on some super secret special forces raid probably shouldn't be released to the public, but if they have aliens at Area 51, freaking tell us! So yeah, don't tell us the truth about everything, but some stuff we should know about.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it is right that they think it is their right. Freedom of press should mean something. They need to release information to us.
DeleteI agree. Some information should be withheld from the general public to help protect our country. There is a reason that we created the FBI, the CIA, and the secret service. They are there to protect us while keeping harmful information out of the public.
DeleteI think in this topic I will use Mr. Pace's book he likes to relate to me, "The Hunger Games." It is supposed to be this far off lunatic idea, but it is not. The government taxes us by money, and we have new laws now that try to keep a future rebellion from happening. Every state has a purpose just like The Hunger Games only in that time they are called districts. The government never tells us the whole truth. It is all about keeping the public smart, but not too smart. Knowledge is power right?
ReplyDeleteI agree. But here in america we have a much more transparent government than most countries do.
DeleteI would assume that there are reasons that a government is not completely transparent with its citizens. These reasons could range from national security, to simply maintaining a sense of professionalism. For instance, recently several members of SEAL Team Six were reprimanded for revealing information to Electronic Arts for its recent first person shooter title "Medal of Honor Warfighter" about special weapons the SEAL's use. While the SEAL's were acting as paid consultants, they did not have the approval of they're commanding officer. Even though the information shared is not essentially mission threatening, the military keeps secrets for a reason, and lives are put at risk when certain things are revealed. A government may also keep a lid on the flow of information to maintain a certain level of respect amongst other nations.
ReplyDeleteI think that there are some things that the government simply cannot reveal without putting lives at risk. While the government exists only to serve thier citzens, would they not also be serving us by keeping us safe? I belive that government censorship should be minimal, but it is one of those things that is a neccasary evil.
ReplyDeleteI think that the government should not keep secrets from the general public, but in all honesty, they are probable smart to tell us everything that goes on behind closed doors. No one likes a secret but some are best kept. The government is not what we crack it up to be, but it does have the public in its best interest ( hopefully..).
ReplyDelete