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“No more secrets.” It is a noble, even romantic notion, but one that is not always practical or wise. Secrecy, concealment, and disinformation are practices employed by everyone, in many arenas, and to differing degrees. The motives and the consequences of them vary greatly. They carry a generally negative stigma, but all could agree on their prudence in areas of particular importance and sensitivity. In Bok’s book, “Secrets,” strategic concealment, malicious deceit, and everything in between are examined. Personal privacy is something to which we are all entitled, but secrecy can play an important and beneficial role in sensitive negotiations or military operations, as well. This reality was eventually acknowledged and fully realized by Woodrow Wilson, who, after stating “there ought to be no place where anything can be done that everybody does not know about,” (p.171) went on to actually introduce wartime censorship through the Committee on Public Information.
Approximate Word count = 468
Approximate Pages = 1.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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