This article goes over the conflict Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, has been having with the Australian government. Assange's legal team has been trying to save Assange from the potential death penalty which he faces on US soil. This is why they are working so frantically to get help from the Australian government,
Assange is well known around the world for leaking sensitive US government documents and was questionably arrested earlier this year. Assange brings up a critical point in citizens rights. Do citizens have the right to know what their government is doing? Is transparency good?
Some will argue that certain topics are too sensitive and somethings are embarrassing and therefore the government would prefer to keep it under wraps. Others would say that it is necessary for them to be aware of their governments doings. That way they have the information that they need to act politically in their community.
Another question Assange's case brings up is whether or not the government should protect their citizens even when on foreign soil. Australia and America are not on bad terms, but the Australian government understands that America isn't necessarily a government who likes to have their toes stepped on.
I think this will eventually end after long debate between US and Australian officials, but the US will give in eventually. It will be one of those events that most people forget about what caused it so they government will try to put off a resolution for as long as possible.
In my opinion, citizens have a right to know what's going on in their government, but the government also has a right to keep some things out of the news. Total transparency in government is not good, because I feel like it takes away some of their power and would cause way more problems than necessary. Citizens should know enough about government to make valid political decisions.
ReplyDeleteGovernment should protect it's citizens on their own soil fully, and only to a certain extent on foreign soil. Otherwise too much conflict can arise.
So here's what I think.
ReplyDeleteI think the government should tell the people everything except for highly sensitive security information that could cause harm to the citizens or the country as a whole. This information would be shared only when it's safe for people to blab about it on the internet without consequences.
The only trouble with this is deciding what information is sensitive and what's not, and that certainly would get tricky.
However, I do think that the US Government, currently, is not transparent enough and seems a little questionable to me.
I think its difficult to access what the US public should be aware of and what they shouldn't be aware of. I honestly think its not a huge issue in the United States right now because somethings are meant to be kept on the down low.
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