Re: Aaron Swartz : Transparency is Bunk

Posted by Daniel Haran on
URL: http://civicaccess.416.s1.nabble.com/Aaron-Swartz-Transparency-is-Bunk-tp1630p1633.html

On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 1:26 PM, catherine <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Michael Lenczner wrote:
>
>> This is from someone that has been doing gov transparency sites for a while.
>>
>> I find this critical opinion really interesting, but possibly
>> exaggerated about the lack of benefit of these projects.
>
> Well, Aaron has never been one to sugar-coat his opinions ;)

A more radical view might be that databases themselves reflect their
creator's world-view, and making that world-view more accessible
doesn't necessarily change it. Aaron seems surprised and disenchanted
with that realization.

Attacking a government for not being "efficient" enough challenges how
they do things, rather than what they do; it's a fundamentally
reformist position.


There is data government don't want released because they anticipate
certain questions being asked. And there's questions they haven't even
thought we might ask. That's what I'm after.


d.