Article Image

IPFS News Link • Whistleblowers

Truth and Consequences

• ncc-1776.org by by L. Neil Smith

Thirteen years ago, in 2003. I presented a speech to the Libertarian Party of New Mexico, in which I talked about the uncountable thousands of life-destroying, history-distorting lies told by government employees every day, from whoppers like the Gulf of Tonkin Incident—which never really happened, but that managed to get the War in Vietnam started, anyway—to lesser fibs, like the Food and Drug Administration telling us that vitamin supplements don't do us any good. Ask you heart surgeon about that.

Such casual or calculated lies cost lives, in the case of the Vietnam War, about 60,000 American lives, and about two million Vietnamese. In conclusion, I proposed that any government employee who lies to any member of the public, for any reason, be subject to execution, and that keeping any government secret, of any kind, be considered the same as telling a lie.

The reaction to this proposal was educational, to say the least. Individuals who considered themselves to be libertarians were outraged that I would take such a position. In their view—the same as that of conservative Republicans and Democratic war-hawks—the government's ability to lie to us and keep secrets from us was essential to maintaining civilization, whereas transparency in government was a mortal threat. In a democracy, I pointed out, it is people like you and me who establish government policies; how can we do that without complete access to the facts?


midfest.info