It's a Secret In the meantime, we have the bomb,
and con- sequently we have security, and occasionally we have what is called treason. And all three seem equally nonsensical, if you take a childlike view of men's affairs (which is the only reasonable view). Treason is merely any government's name for anything that threatens its security as a government. Security is a device for giving im- portance and a livelihood to people who manu- facture security. They do this by classifying the maximum number of simple facts as secret. This process is given the appearance of rationality by the belief that espionage and treason make security necessary; but in fact, espionage is created by security, not the other way round. What secrets are really worth a security cordon? The fission process? The fusion process? Blue- streak? Polaris? They have all doubtless pro- vided trouble and an income for spies and counter-spies and counter-counter-spies, but in the end, it couldn't have made much real difference if the whole lot had been published in Woman's Own in the first place.
CLIFFORD HANLEY
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