Daniel Ellsberg on the Limits of Knowledge – Mother Jones

Why the president doesn't necessarily know any more than you do.

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily . Jay Ackroyd went to a conference last week where he heard Daniel Ellsberg speak. He apparently recounted one of my favorite Ellsberg stories, and since it’s one of my favorites I’m going to repeat it in full below. It’s from Ellsberg’s book Secrets , and the setting is a meeting with Henry Kissinger in late 1968 when he was advising him about the Vietnam War. The idea of Kissinger seeking out Ellsberg for advice on Vietnam initially seems a bit unlikely, b

related reading

• Daniel Ellsberg: The Effect of Top Secret Clearance – wonkmonk's noteswonkmonksnotes.wordpress.com
• Interview with History: Henry Kissinger | by Oriana Fallaci | Scraps from the loftscrapsfromtheloft.com
• Daniel Ellsberg obituary | US national security | The Guardiantheguardian.com
• The myth of the myth of the well read persondwarkeshpatel.com
• How to Stage a Coup - by Santi Ruiz - Statecraftstatecraft.pub
• Eliezer's Unteachable Methods of Sanity — LessWronglesswrong.com
• Lessons from The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Carodwarkesh.com
• Daniel Ellsberg Wants to Be Prosecuted Under Espionage Acttheintercept.com
• The obscure federal intelligence bureau that got Vietnam, Iraq, and Ukraine rightvox.com
• Competent Elites — LessWronglesswrong.com
• What Robert Caro learned about power after studying it for 50 yearsyoutube.com
• Knowing About Biases Can Hurt People — LessWronglesswrong.com