The failure of intelligence
The current state of affairs is a warning that top-level intelligence is failing
In an ideal world, people would do their best to understand reality and share that understanding with others. Some call this journalism. This kind of journalism has been under attack for quite some time. The very reason that ideal world can’t exist is because being able to understand reality better than others, or to even conceal that reality from others gives one power. That power is sought by all kinds of people in all kinds of situations and it corrupts them. No amount of “It’s for the greater good!” rationalization will comfort their souls, and deep down they know it.
The very word “secrecy” is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment.
John F. Kennedy 27 April 1961
Secrets beget more secrets, and they blister with corruption. This deep corruption has taken root in almost all levels of society. One has to be ejected from it all to appreciate the full extent of it. People very ability to understand what lies before them is under attack on the most fundamental levels. More control, suppression and deceit are constantly required to maintain the illusion. These illusions are not mere phantoms, they require sacrifice. Greater and greater sacrifices are made just for more to be demanded.
People are not blind to this. Every day in all their actions they make a conscious choice. “Is this level of sacrifice enough to cover the secrets I maintain?” We are all tainted by the secrets we participate in. Every deviation from sharing the truth as we know it incurs unimaginable debts. There is only one act that can truly change things. It is a loving act of self-sacrifice. That act of self-sacrifice is to shout:
Enough!
Enough with the lies, enough with the pretending, enough with the sacrifices. It takes a monumental act of courage to take on not only the secrecy, but also make yourself an enemy of those who still harbor them. This is no small feat. Telling the truth in an age of deceit is an immense risk in even the most trivial of examples. How do we as free people respond?
Don’t underestimate the power of truth, there’s nothing more powerful. Now in order to speak what you might regard as the truth you have to let go of the outcome! You have to think: “Alright I’m going to say what I think. Ignorant as I am, stupid as I am. I am going to state what I think as clearly as I can and I’m going to live with the consequences no matter what they are.
Jordan Peterson at the Manning Conference 2017
As Peterson warns us, it is not safe to speak the truth. People have to do it anyways. You need to have the faith that the cost is worth it. Without that faith you will falter when you’re needed most. You may never know when that time comes, it is best to always be on guard. If nothing else, understand you’re not alone. There are many others who have taken up that challenge in the largest and smallest of ways.
#FreeAssange
By sacrificing Julian Assange for these lies, what’s next? Who or what should we prepare to hoist onto the altar of public relations. Merely evading the wrath of those who benefit from secrecy is not enough. These injustices simply beget more injustices. In doing so we don’t just corrupt the public record, but our own moral understanding. Some may argue these methods are worthwhile, but it is indisputable they have a cost. That cost rises every day with every concession away from the truth.
This is the mechanism that is making all our lives more difficult. You can choose almost any contentious political issue, delve deep enough you find ultimately the troubles are the cost of maintaining some kind of secret. People have been mislead in so many ways. It is terrifyingly asinine to label a handful of alleged misconceptions “disinformation” to take the blame for decades of deceit.
When you try to equate yourself with Julian Assange you’re making a very dangerous gesture.
We are well past dangerous. We have gambled with so many lives, for so long and for what? Deranged western leaders have sabotaged generations of human capital. Nobody is safe. No amount of acquiescence or displays of loyalty will protect anyone from a system of total corruption. Wealth won’t protect anyone either. Without the rule of law safety and wealth are both meaningless, unenforceable concepts.
The goal is justice, the method is transparency
Our goal as free people in society shouldn’t simply be to be those in-the-know. Being “awake” is a pitiful consolation when one idly watches the tides of tyranny crash forth. It is long past time to take action, but I’ll also call you to imagine. Imagine a world that isn’t constantly wasting time, energy, effort, and lives in the name of preserving secrecy. What could be gained by saving the immense cost of maintaining secrecy and lies?
All around us we witness the unending failures of intelligence at the highest levels. What is all the censorship, surveillance, and narrative control for if it fails to bring forth truth? People struggle to agree on some of the most basic tenets of our reality. Instead of cooperating to build understanding we draw battle lines. Waging our culture wars, while criminals plunder our societies in the cover of ignorance and hatred.
Whatever we currently call intelligence needs to give way for justice. Agencies, think-tanks, and individuals are all called to say “Enough!” and aim for restoring integrity. We can undo the damage done by lies, but we can use the truth to set us free of them.
Thanks for this post. What has happened to Julian Assange breaks my heart. I watched a little bit of the free Assange speakers yesterday. What we are doing to him is counter to our fundamental American values, and is the sign of "This deep corruption has taken root in almost all levels of society.". It doesn't matter what's true, it matters what people believe is true because that's what they act or don't act on. It is an incredible power, and it's a tool that's been sharpened over the past 40 years. And when someone exposes this power, they will be severely punished as a warning to anyone else trying to do so. This is how we slip into a tyrannical government that everyone knows is tyrannical and corrupt, but we live our lives and tolerate it the best we can. Until something comes to turn the tide.