The result is a society of way too much information. Joyce Maynard seeks to claw her way up from mediocrity by exposing her relationship with the intensely private and reclusive J. D. Salinger. Dr. Laura's ex-boyfriend sells nude pictures of the virtues maven for posting on the web. Dr. Jack Kevorkian and 60 Minutes team up for a televised episode of euthanasia. Even the most famous privacy victims, Princess Diana and Bill Clinton, found it necessary to share details about their most intimate affairs with worldwide audiences.
Privacy is worse than irrelevant.
We have become a society of exhibitionists. The classical belief that the unexamined life is not worth living has been replaced by the modern conviction that the unpublicized, unexposed life has no socially redeeming value. Yet the culture of full disclosure does not seem likely to wither away. It has, however, established a cultural climate of disdain for privacy and distrust of those who avoid exposure or insist on keeping their private lives to themselves. That, in turn, influences the cultural, political, and legal climate for privacy.