Government Withholding Information from the Public

http://www.gastongazette.com/article/20130111/Opinion/301119853   

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No good comes from the government keeping information from the public that which they received from the public.

The U.S. government does a stellar job of keeping our country protected and informed from and of other countries and their affairs. However, I argue that sometimes it seems that they keep us so well informed of other countries and happenings around the world that some may ask, “what about decisions being made in our government? Why are we not informed often of information that may be kept from us?” Taken from an editorial in the gaston gazette, it states that officials in society, in this case the Gaston County Sheriff, carry an “arrogant and disrespectful attitude that too often emerges... where the elite government class endowed with special privileges that should be withheld from a “lower ranking” public.” This editorial is a reliable source because of the shared opinion that readers may have with the narrator who backed up their claims with evidence.     

It may be very easy to assume that the government has productive and justifying reasons for keeping information from the public and not allowing them to have access to certain records. However, in certain cases and according to the given editorial, it seems out of place for the public not to have all access to certain records, such as guns in this case. As the narrator states, “no good can come from the government withholding the information it collects from the public.” I personally feel that the only feeling that keeping certain information from the public would cause is suspicion in the general number of citizens under the government.  

As we U.S. citizens pay taxes to the government and provide them with a steady and vast income, we should in return be able to be aware of certain information that began with us in the first place. I view the information from the article, “The openness that prevails through public records not only allows the public to determine what the government is doing wrong, but also what it is doing right,” which I specifically agree with as a system such as this would display America aa a genuine yoke between the people and their government. This instead of portraying a country with a government that keeps secrets from its’ followers.

Future Research: What exactly is the government trying to hide with regards to apparent insignificant files and or issues that are labeled "classified."