The Open Society Paradox: Why the Twenty-First Century Calls for More Openness--Not Less

by Dennis Bailey

Book Overview

How do we ensure security and, at the same time, safeguard civil liberties? "The Open Society Paradox" challenges the conventional wisdom of those on both sides of the debateleaders who want unlimited... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574889168
• ISBN13: 9781574889161
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Potomac Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Interesting, But I'm Not Convinced

I picked up this book intrigued by the title. There is no question in my mind that the balance of openness vs. security is a major question of the time. Today we are seeing more and more people calling for ever increasing security. The paper yesterday said that a new requirement for a drivers license will be to present four forms of ID. Where is a sixteen year old supposed to get four forms of ID? There is a big flack about issuing drivers licenses to illegal migrant workers from Mexico. Do these people say that we want these people driving without a license. A drivers license is (perhaps was is a better word) supposed to be proof only that the person understands the little driving book. That's good if someone is to drive a car. This book recognizes the problem of more government control, but says that the constitutional protections are sufficient to say that the Government won't run amuck. In view of the Patriot's Act and the Drug laws that says the carrying of 'significant' amounts of cash is presumptive of drug purchasing intent, I'm not so sure. The author also puts his faith in an ID card with embedded biometric data. I have one of those. It was issued by the passport people and at selected airports a kiosk would let me come into the country without having to stand in the passport line. After 9/11 they stopped using these machines. Evidently the Government decided that measuring the biometrics of my hand was less secure than having an immigration person ask me a few questions. A very interesting contribution to the story of our time, I'm just not quite convinced yet.

Freedom Vs Security

The book is enlightening. Many people feel that we have to choose between freedom and security for our future. The author argues that we can have both - freedom and security. The author calls this "The Open Society Paradox." The driver's license is the identifying card that almost everyone uses to exist and navigate in our society. The driver's license is the ticket to acceptability in our society. Bailey explains that getting a paper driver's license is too easy and therefore it is too easy to switch identities. The author argues for a secure biometric national ID card. He calls this the technologies of openness. He downplays the severe loss of privacy that this would cause. Bailey believes that with this secure national ID card we can be both free and secure. I do not think that he makes his case. He believes that giving up one's privacy does not endanger one's freedom. He is wrong about this. He says openness is coming and we can not stop it. Political Issues (C-Span 354/1)

Privacy vs. Openness

The Open Society Paradox is a refreshing approach to the staid privacy / security debate that we too often hear in this country. Bailey's argument that instead of more security or more privacy, we need more openness, is a more realistic approach to the direction our technologically-oriented society is headed. Greater security only ends up restricting our freedoms; we saw this at the conventions in DC and Boston when the cities were shut down with road blocks and random searches. At the same time, protecting privacy and anonymity when terrorists live in our country makes it impossible for the government to serve the common defense; when everyone is anonymous, everyone is a potential terrorist. Bailey takes on both the Bush administration and their penchant for too much secrecy and the privacy movement who argue for greater anonymity without providing any solutions to the problem of terrorism. While his vision of the future may be too optimistic for some, his description of a world with a million eyes watching one another is right in line with the proliferation of surveillance cameras and camera phones. The question is whether a million eyes can use the mass commoditization of surveillance to keep Big Brother in check. The Open Society Paradox makes a strong case that it can.

Timely & thought provoking!

Bailey has distilled the issues of privacy and security in the 21st century into a very readable and informative work! I highly recommend The Open Society Paradox to scholars, policy makers, and any citizen concerned with the security of our nation and world. This book offers a fresh perspective on privacy and openness that is sure to initiate constructive debate on what may become the most shaping issue of our century. Read this book!!

Vital information for every US citizen!

Post 9/11, we have strong advocates for security at all costs. Others insist on blindly protecting our privacy, even at the expense of security. Both sides have valid points. Yet no one has come forward with a way to resolve these polarizing issues--until now. I highly recommend Dennis Bailey's The Open Society Paradox. For the first time, someone has taken a thought-provoking, sensible approach that challenges both extreme positions on this issue. Objective and practical, this author offers insights and doable solutions to these issues critical to our times. I notice that Paradox has been brought out by the same publisher who did Imperial Hubris. This book is a must read!