STING2 said:I think its not correct to say that citizens have the literal right to Know "everything". Historically, to many military operations and lives would have been compromised and lost if, citizens knew everything. If you or I knew everything, then so would the enemy. That would put our security in jeopardy and therefore, our freedom as well.
melon said:You're using the terms interchangably, which is incorrect. In a democracy, by definition, the people have direct involvement on their own governing. So, yes, in a democracy, citizens do have a right to know everything. In a republic, which is what the United States was founded on, citizens are represented by elected officials who vote for them; hence, the question becomes a bit grayer.
However, in practice, the United States is more of a hybrid democratic republic, perhaps thanks to Progressive activism in the first third of the 20th century. In essence, what I think we have is the inevitable outgrowth of this conflict between the government that the Founding Fathers created--a republic--and the de-facto emergence of democracy. What is different is the American public itself, where there was a high disparity between the education levels of the elected officials and the populace, which was highly incapable of running itself. Even Plato admitted that a democracy was contingent on an educated populace, which was absent in the foundation of the United States.
Things have changed, though, and we have many citizens who are smarter than our elected officials. Perhaps as a tribute to our never-ending inquisitiveness, we demand a more active involvement in how our elected officials operate. In theory, our elected officials are supposed to represent their district, but, as we all know, that is often not the case. Partisanship seems to be the name of the game, and the platform that these individuals are elected on are often so vague that we all know it is deceptive. The republic, itself, is becoming a failure, as our elected officials are failing in their duty to their district, primarily to be honest in what they plan on doing in office. Democracy is the natural outgrowth of this distrust, and, as such, that is why citizens do have the right to know the truth, rather than be fed a bunch of lies to protect those in power.
Melon
melon said:You're using the terms interchangably, which is incorrect. In a democracy, by definition, the people have direct involvement on their own governing. So, yes, in a democracy, citizens do have a right to know everything. In a republic, which is what the United States was founded on, citizens are represented by elected officials who vote for them; hence, the question becomes a bit grayer.
However, in practice, the United States is more of a hybrid democratic republic, perhaps thanks to Progressive activism in the first third of the 20th century. In essence, what I think we have is the inevitable outgrowth of this conflict between the government that the Founding Fathers created--a republic--and the de-facto emergence of democracy. What is different is the American public itself, where there was a high disparity between the education levels of the elected officials and the populace, which was highly incapable of running itself. Even Plato admitted that a democracy was contingent on an educated populace, which was absent in the foundation of the United States.
Things have changed, though, and we have many citizens who are smarter than our elected officials. Perhaps as a tribute to our never-ending inquisitiveness, we demand a more active involvement in how our elected officials operate. In theory, our elected officials are supposed to represent their district, but, as we all know, that is often not the case. Partisanship seems to be the name of the game, and the platform that these individuals are elected on are often so vague that we all know it is deceptive. The republic, itself, is becoming a failure, as our elected officials are failing in their duty to their district, primarily to be honest in what they plan on doing in office. Democracy is the natural outgrowth of this distrust, and, as such, that is why citizens do have the right to know the truth, rather than be fed a bunch of lies to protect those in power.
Melon
melon said:
Things have changed, though, and we have many citizens who are smarter than our elected officials. Perhaps as a tribute to our never-ending inquisitiveness, we demand a more active involvement in how our elected officials operate. In theory, our elected officials are supposed to represent their district, but, as we all know, that is often not the case. Partisanship seems to be the name of the game, and the platform that these individuals are elected on are often so vague that we all know it is deceptive. The republic, itself, is becoming a failure, as our elected officials are failing in their duty to their district, primarily to be honest in what they plan on doing in office. Democracy is the natural outgrowth of this distrust, and, as such, that is why citizens do have the right to know the truth, rather than be fed a bunch of lies to protect those in power.
Melon
kobayashi said:
increasingly, the american public is at the mercy of a highly centralized mass media, with few owners and diverse interests.
STING2 said:I think its not correct to say that citizens have the literal right to Know "everything". Historically, to many military operations and lives would have been compromised and lost if, citizens knew everything. If you or I knew everything, then so would the enemy. That would put our security in jeopardy and therefore, our freedom as well.