This is as close to a ‘reblog’ as I’m likely to get- advice from a chap called Daniel Ellsberg to a young Henry Kissinger upon him receiving his first top secret clearances.
I think it’s one of the most important things you could ever remember when scrutinising the behaviours of Government and other large organisations. Often if there’s a situation that you can’t make sense of or there appears to be a simple and satisfying explanation, the truth is much more complicated.
From Ellsberg’s book Secrets and found on the brilliant Kottke blog.
“Henry, there’s something I would like to tell you, for what it’s worth, something I wish I had been told years ago. You’ve been a consultant for a long time, and you’ve dealt a great deal with top secret information. But you’re about to receive a whole slew of special clearances, maybe fifteen or twenty of them, that are higher than top secret.
July 31st, 2010