8 It is often necessary, even desirable, for political leaders withhold information from the public（求批改）
Is it frequently essential and indispensable, even advisable and sagacious, for political leaders suppress information from the public, as the speaker contends? I agree insofar as to conceal the truth from populace under some particular circumstances in order to safeguard national-people from danger and threat, which thereafter might incur the chaos. However, in some sense the speaker’s assertion begs the question, by neglecting the fact that the masses have the right to know what has happened, what’s the policies have been instituted and what has done by political leaders.In this way, it appears to be just, fair and open to people who live in democratic society. Accordingly, from my perspective, the final judgment should be contingent on a case-by-case analysis of two situations.
Initially, I concede that our political leaders are supposed to appropriately hold back information. Commonly, unveiling to the masses some sort of specific intelligence would endanger public safety and potentially even compromise national security. For instance, provided the President was intended to fully divulge the explicit information about how to obstruct terrorists from executing their stratagem and how to apprehend drug trafficker, I believe that the President plans must end up with failure, and furthermore this ridiculous act would put the public’s health and safety in danger. Consequently, withholding information from public sometimes might be imperative to avoid public panic and social disorder. As a matter of fact, covering up such kind of information is a wise choice which considered as a white lie. A white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered and offers some benefit to people whom the liar want to protect. Under such circumstances, the speaker claims that it is often necessary, even desirable, for political leaders keep information secret from the masses is reasonable and socially acceptable.
Nevertheless, there is no denying that a government or the political leaders, with a view to keeping the society stable, withhold information from the public which goes to far might defeat its original purposes. Generally speaking, the best policy for political leaders is to govern the state with their own example of uprightness and honesty, otherwise how can they keep government functionaries honest and how can they attain the people’s trust. When people feel political leaders keep back the truth from them, the public advocate hostility against the government. Thereafter it will give rise to social confusion. As a result, extending the proposition too far might risk undermining those objectives of keeping society stable and prosperous. On the contrary, if political leaders let power be exercised in the sunshine, it will serve as a role of virtuous circle played in promoting the development of society. As is known to us, occasionally the government withholds some information to counteract opponent opinions. Yet the different voices do not stand for the discordant of society. To allow everybody to air his view and speak his mind freely actually contribute to nurture and thrive a nation.We can’t overlook the fact that policy surveillance is an indispensable part in the stability and prosperity of a country.Only keeping the public informed and holding public hearing can heighten the people credibility to their government and political leaders and the society are able to maintain stability. After all, the function of the government and the purpose of the political leaders both are to promote all-round, balanced and sustainable development of the economy and society.
On the other hand, people have the right to know truth. It is preposterous for a government or political leaders count predominantly on deception and secrecy to conceal selfish motives and seek private gain through power. And those who do such kind of things will surely end up forfeiting the power and reputation and will be disdained by their citizens. I can think of no better illustration of the idea than the example of the world’s largest dolphin slaughter in taiji town, Japan. This is a place where the practice of slaughtering dolphins which sanctioned by the Japanese government. Thousands of dolphins and others small whales are killed every year. The government and the dolphin-hunters who are fishermen know that not only their own citizens but also the world will be outraged when the truth gets out. So the hunters are guided by their government, hiding behind phrases such as "food culture" and "tradition." And they also proclaim that killing them so that preserving ocean’s fish for themselves. Besides, in order to push the food culture issue even further, the Japanese government introduced pilot whale meat to children's school lunch programs, despite the fact that the meat is tainted with mercury and not fit for human consumption. Actually, dolphin meat should have been labeled as toxic because of contamination. Although the Japanese government knew about it, they didn’t warn the Japanese people of this danger. Moreover, a great deal of the tainted dolphin meat serves as counterfeit whale meat in Tokyo and other large cities. The government and the hunters are at expense of sacrificing dolphin and citizen’s health so as to gain interests from it. What a tragic! The Japanese people have every right to know about the dolphin slaughter. And they have a right to know about the mercury-poisoned dolphin meat that is being fed to their children. So in this condition, can we say it is necessary and even desirable for political leaders conceal information from the public?
In the final analysis, only under urgent and exigent circumstances and only in the contexts of the protection of public’s interests can political leaders withhold information. Otherwise, it is injudicious and unwise for them to keep information secret which will undermine the country’s development and prosperity. In addition, the conduct of political leaders with the intention of attaining profits and therefore hold back information and use deceptions as excuses, which sacrificing the public’s interests at any cost, should be castigated and penalized
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发表于 2011-11-14 14:26:58
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