In Mae’s meeting with Eamon Bailey, he uses his authority over her to manipulate her thoughts and lead her to come up with the mantra that “SECRETS ARE LIES, SHARING IS CARING, PRIVACY IS THEFT” (305), which summarizes the intent of the Circle quite thoroughly. These three statements all seem quite radical from our cultural standpoint which values the protection of our rights and individuality, but in the eyes of the Circlers, who take connectivity to the extreme, they represent the ideals that are the basis of successful societies.
Secrecy can be viewed in two very polarizing ways. In one, it is a source of trust. In the other, it is a vice that protects people from facing the consequences of their actions. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that secrets are lies because not all secrets have to be bad. More importantly though, secrets are the truth, not lies. The whole idea of keeping a secret is to enshroud reality. Doing so though can be used for both good and bad purposes. By keeping secrets about a planned surprise party or about a close friend revealing his or her sexual orientation to you, you aren’t lying to the world. A lot of the time, you’re being a good and reliable friend. Conversely though, secrets can be used to hide an affair from a spouse or to keep dangerous knowledge away from the public. The problem with secrets isn’t the secrets themselves; it’s how people take advantage of them for their own gain and security.
In spite of the radical exploitation of information, the Circle’s intent to promote the sharing of content isn’t inherently driven by evil. Sharing is caring is the one part of Mae’s mantra that I actually agree with for the most part. The whole idea of making all of this information so public is to promote the shared enterprise of all people, such as SeeChange enabling Eamon’s son who suffers from cerebral palsy to see things that his condition prevents him from doing and leaders “going clear” so the public can hold them accountable. By posting about their own experiences, users share their worlds with others, who hopefully do the same in return to create a more informed and interconnected society. How people use the Internet in real life is very similar to this as online reviews are intended to inform future customers, stories of social injustice go viral and raise national awareness, and warnings about potential violent or weather-related threats are streamlined to individuals’ phones and televisions to protect them.
Sharing can truly be caring, the problem with the Circle though is that it goes far beyond promoting shared enterprise. It exploits the public and discourages any type of privacy, which Circlers believe is an act of theft.
Privacy is where the line should be drawn on the idea of sharing is caring. Unlike secrecy, privacy involves an individual’s protection of himself or herself and really cannot be used malevolently. The Circle though aims to eliminate any type of privacy because it idealizes the beliefs that a perfect world wouldn’t need it and that not having it wouldn’t be a big deal because no one would have it. By losing their privacy, people lose touch with their personal lives. Mae, for instance, is discouraged from living a life outside of the Circle and is placed under a microscope for a petty misdemeanor, which may even be a bit of an exaggerated description. The Circle eliminates privacy in leaders through the “going clear” campaign, which manipulates the elections as people feel as if they can only trust officials who live their lives transparently. Every person should be entitled to his or her own privacy; it’s a constitutionally granted right. Disclosing personal information from the world isn’t stealing; it’s protecting one’s self. We all have the right to protect our financial and health records, personal issues, or whatever else it is that people value.
The Circle could be used for so much good, but its ambition to dominate society is its weakness. These themes that stigmatize secrecy and privacy and that lionize sharing lose sight of the true purpose of the Circle, which is to serve its users, a warning from Dave Eggers about who really is in charge of our world and leading it.