By David Gallup
Classified documents, top secret
files, spy balloons, clandestine surveillance. What kind of world are we living
in where we hide information about and from each other, spying to get the upper
hand? Why do leaders and legislators feel compelled to keep government secrets
from the public?
In the current political system of
independent, sovereign states, national governments seek to exact a competitive
edge over perceived rivals by hiding information, spying, and governing
secretively. Day-to-day governance becomes a zero-sum game. Governmental
success comes at the expense of human interdependence, turning our fellow
humans into foes rather than friends.
What are the costs of keeping
secrets?
Nation-state secrets and spying come
with economic, environmental, political, and social costs.
Nearly all countries have their own
spies, covert agencies, and departments of “defense,” costing billions of
dollars to conduct “intelligence” operations and keep secrets. Furthermore,
national governments feel compelled to spend countless billions on embassies,
consulates, border walls, and border guards for “national security.” Consider
the two trillion dollars total that national governments spend on preparing for
and waging wars every year.
Weapons manufacturers, military
contractors, government officials, and wealthy shareholders reap the profit
from producing and selling tools of deceit and destruction. Meanwhile, a
billion people are starving, and millions must flee their homes to survive.
Moreover, war preparation and clandestine operations are some of the most
devastating despoilers of the environment.
To outmaneuver each other, national
governments steadfastly control resources and data, refusing to share
information with anyone they consider an outsider. Keeping secrets hampers
leaders from governing effectively, causing them to focus on their nation
instead of humanity’s survival.
State secrets for “national security”
and “public order” allow governments to act extra-judicially and to violate human
rights with impunity. Hiding information leads to public mistrust in government.
When secrets take precedence over transparency, governing decisions are made
without analysis, oversight, or consent. The public is precluded from
participating in decision making and mistrust of government grows.
Secrets and the rhetoric of
divisiveness – the “us versus them” approach – also take a psychological toll.
Overzealous national pride turns our neighbors into enemies and ignites a
mindset of fear, distrust, jealousy, and anger. We are constantly looking
behind our backs, rather than looking forward.
What are the benefits of humans
sharing information instead of privileging secrets?
Human and natural resources would be
better spent on environmental, scientific, and technological advancements than
on secrets, spying, and information suppression.
Governments, as representatives of
the world’s people, could focus on information sharing and unifying humanity. Humans
could work together to overcome the divisions that hold us back, rather than
maintain nearly 200 separate national departments of defense, and science
research, environmental, and intelligence agencies all seeking similar data and
advancements. Access to more data would enhance governmental decision-making
and lead to quicker scientific, health, and technological progress.
By encouraging the open exchange of
information, we would be better equipped to improve understanding among diverse
cultures and governing styles, to interact more peaceably and to share
resources more equitably. With transparency and accountability as top priorities,
we could build a framework of world security.
Resources and funds, historically
tied to the military-industrial complex, could be used to feed, house, and
educate people. Human and planetary health could take precedence over conflict
among people and contamination of the Earth. Global collaboration is far
preferable to war or cloak-and-dagger diplomacy.
How can we govern with compassion
rather than deception?
Sharing ideas, solutions,
technologies, and data would help humanity deal with global problems that can
only be handled at the global level – problems that national governments cannot
resolve on their own with hushed voices behind closed doors. Eight billion
minds are better than one.
People united under one citizenship would
see each other as friends with common goals that they implement together.
Democratic world federation and world citizenship would provide a holistic
framework for uniting our political governing structures and for uniting us as
humans. World citizenship and government could liberate us from the shackles of
a divided world.
Above all, governments could act like
friends do.
Friends are free because they do not
compel, restrain, or confine each other. Friends do not keep secrets to feel
special or better. Friends share their concerns. Friends are willing to
consider others’ perspectives. Friends have empathy and love for one
another.
The words “friend” and “free” come
from the same Proto-Indo-European root which can mean both to love and to be
free.
Friendship, in place of secrecy, would
free us to achieve a peaceful, just, sustainable, and united world.
David Gallup is a human rights
attorney, President of the World
Service Authority, Convenor of the World Court of Human Rights
Coalition, and a Board Member of Citizens for Global Solutions
Education Fund.
