Before I get sucked into the rant… check out the Women’s Studies Conference at VSU being web cast.

How does one separate the conflict between privacy and open information acts? People have a higher expectations of openness for government than for corporations. Someone applying to become president of just about any corporation could expect their identity to not be revealed until they are a finalist for the position. Someone applying for any government job whether president of university or directory of an agency could easily be exposed by these requirements that the identities of applicants be accessible to the public. With government we want every character of data to be accessible to the public because? Because we do not trust government. We feel that for them to do an adequate job that every decision must be available to the public to make them accountable. Corporations enjoy the luxury of a smaller base of people to which they usually feel accountable… their stockholders.

Why don’t we trust government? I’d suggest that much of the distrust is contrived. The media and special interest groups must make us distrust government to push their agendas.

This “us” against “them” mentality is the disease that will ultimately bring this nation to its knees. We have seen this so many times before… and yet when confronted with situations we fall into the trap over and over again. When will we learn? Some like to yell “Never!” Others like to bring complex reasons for why it has happened. Think that we will learn that cooperation does work better than confrontation when we have no where else to go.