At 11:08 AM 2/17/5, RC Macaulay wrote: [snip] > ....Honesty: to be truthful in all our endeavors; to be honest and >forthright with one another and with our representatives, customers, >communities, and suppliers. [snip] > > I see NO US government agencies adopt it. They have a " Mission >Statement" BUT NO ETHICS STATEMENT
Being forthright with customers (the public), or even interdepartmentally, is not considered a good thing in many government circles. Anything slightly critical is considered "airing the dirty laundry." There was an interesting example of this about a week ago here in Alaska. A security guard at the state office building in Juneau, which houses the legislature, wrote a letter to the editor concerning the fact that drinking occurs openly and regularly in the home of the legislature, while it is forbidden (by statute) in other state buildings. The drinking is not behind closed doors, but right out in the open, in the hallways etc. The result of the guard's letter was swift and predictable. The guard was fired. As a result, he made the local TV news afterward, so that was good. When confronted with adversity, little bureaucratic minds "circle the wagons" and stonewall. They can't handle dissention. It is hard to imagine big bureaucracies adopting standards that encourage forthright speach. Regards, Horace Heffner
