Edward Snowden And Civil Disobedience

From the moment we are born, essentially, we are taught that rules are meant to be followed. We also learn, from that same young age, that when rules are not followed there are consequences. This is true for the five-year-old who steals from the cookie jar, just as it is true for the adult who breaks the law. However, we as adults have something that many five-year-olds have not fully developed: a conscience. Many say that rules are put in place to protect us, and because of this they should be followed, and in an ideal world this is true. But what of the unjust rules? The rules that are put in place not to protect us, but to protect the status quo, and prevent positive change in our society? When laws are put in place that no longer serve …show more content…
Any American who follows current events knows that name; he was the whistleblower who leaked classified information about how the NSA monitored people's interactions online and on their phones. While it is true that what Snowden did was illegal, the benefits of his actions far outweigh any legal wrongdoing that he committed. Snowden was able to inform millions of people that their right to privacy was being violated, something that never should have been happening in the first place, and certainly without the knowledge of the public. He brought to light the immoral and unconstitutional actions of our government, and allowed Americans protest this wrongdoing, because his loyalty was not to the American government. Snowden was loyal to the true America, the American people. If prioritizing citizens over the government that is supposed to be in place to protect them is considered wrong, then we as a people need to assess our priorities and realize that no establishment should have our unwavering loyalty unless said establishment is actually worthy of that loyalty. If it is not, then our founding fathers would tell us to tear down that establishment. To conclude, civil disobedience is not only a just and positive influence on our society, but it is a necessary one. Without peaceful resistance, we as a nation would be decades behind where we are now in terms of the rights that we have as free Americans. Without the peaceful resistance to the wrongdoing of the government that brave individuals such as Rosa Parks and Edward Snowden executed, we as a nation would be worse, to our very core, because we would be allowing for unjust laws and actions within our government, simply because they were