The State vs The Information Age

A head-on collision is set as the Information Age and the State barrel along at full speed towards each other. Whether or not the Afghanistan/Pakistan Wikileaks are approriate or not, the fact of such internet realities are here to stay, and nothing hides for long. Transparency is already cliche, but it's a rule of thumb in the Information Age. Like I said, whether government "top secrets" are fair game is another question, but the question of what's actually necessary to keep secret will get tested and asked over and over until there's a valid answer.

Certainly politicians' taxes and business dealings aren't top secret, or their aggression toward masseuses, or extramarital affairs, like in the good old days. This is a development which could present problems of privacy and the tendency to destroy reputations undeservedly but, overall, it seems to be a revelation of lies and deceit that's been sorely needed.

How will the State respond to the Information Age players who become expert at uncovering lies and deceit. In a very real sense, States are dependent on lies and deceit. If the State loses control of information, it loses power. Will the State become reactionary and begin regulating websites that uncover information which threatens State power? More than likely they will. There needs to be a proactive resistance to the real possibility of this type of reactionary censorship. There needs to be a campaign of explanation why this type of information is necessary for a healthy, free society, because the State will surely use its best minds to begin rationalizing the need to regulate and control information.

We'll likely soon read or hear of such rationalizations once the next batch of Wikileaks comes out and the reality sinks in the frightened minds of government officials.