And why that’s not necessarily bad
Published in The Daily Cuppa Grande
Feb 17, 2024 (Medium.com)
“The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.” (Benjamin Disraeli)
The phrase ‘behind the scenes’ has acquired a negative connotation. Our common understanding is there’s nothing virtuous about secrecy. We prefer transparency over opaqueness.
Whether we like it or not, life will become intolerable if we abolished secrecy.
Navigating life demands we have to tiptoe around so many uncomfortable things.
It’s what’s invisible that makes the visible, meaningful, tolerable, and acceptable.
Life is essentially a deal we make with others. It’s nothing but the manifestation of the unending compromises and consensuses we strike with others. It’s not the black and white, but the grey shade that colours most of our life.
Nothing will happen in international politics if people stopped talking behind our backs. Treaties, whether bilateral or multilateral, are the products of backroom discussions, which happen far away from public gaze.
When there’s a global climate change conference, people hear about the final agreement, but not about behind the scene parleys.
When there’s war, enemies conduct a lot of informal discussions, which the public do not hear about. Issues like the release of hostages or reaching a ceasefire, always are clinched secretly.
In organisations,what happens in the offical meetings is only a tip of the iceberg. A lot of things are discussed off the record to avoid conflicts or causing embarrassment to some people.
A lot of behind the scene discussions precede the making of government policies.In democracies, people lobby for favourable policies. The government will not reveal who lobbied against what.
In personal relationships, people try to broker peace between estranged couples. They try to mediate by holding informal talks with the parties.
In divorce courts, counsellors try to help couples reach a compromise, behind the court’s official scrutiny. If there’s an agreement, the court will only know the important details, not the fine points of give and take that the couple discussed off the courtroom.
We are deeply impressed by an actor’s performance in a film. Do we see the countless cuts and editions of scenes that happened off the screen?
True, a lot of corrupt deals and criminal activities happen behind the scenes. Conspiracies are hatched behind closed doors. That, however, is not a reason to condemn secrecy because a lot of good things also happen secretly. Everything that happens behind closed doors is not clandestine.
Life is not a public spectacle that we enact on a public stage. Total or radical transparency in life is a myth, an unattainable ideal. It’s neither desirable nor feasible.
What happens on the backstage makes possible what we see on the frontstage.
Thanks for reading!
Written by Mukundarajan V N
·Writer for The Daily Cuppa Grande
Retired banker living in India. Avid reader. I write to learn, inform and inspire. Believe in ethical living and sustainable development. vnmukund@gmail.com