Hero or Traitor?
The classic definition of a hero, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities; a person who is greatly admired.” A whistleblower does not usually come to mind with that classic definition. Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower that some consider a hero and others consider a traitor. So how do you classify a whistle-blower as a hero or traitor? By the information that is leaked or released? That seems to be the case for Snowden. Many believe that he did a service to the American people by released the NSA documents. However, others believe that he should not have released the documents because he has possibly put the United States in danger. There is a constant …show more content…
At the time of the release of the documents two years ago, Snowden was perceived as a hero. The release revealed to the American people that even though they had a right to privacy, they were still being spied upon without their knowledge or consent. He was considered a hero. He had exposed the secrets and lies of at least one government agency that in the past had testified in front of Congress that it did not spy on the American people unless it had a warrant to do so. He also brought to light important information such as the routine collection of a lot of data, the keeping of the data and the far-reaching collection worldwide. Snowden looked at and studied every document before deciding on what to release. Unlike past leaks, he did not put it onto Wiki Leaks or upload them to the Internet. The U.S. government collected information on millions of Americans that were not linked to terrorism in any way. The U.S. also collects information on other countries, even allies (New Yorker). Since 9/11 there has been an increase in spying with the agencies and committees that are meant to be monitoring the activities of the spying agencies who are not enforcing anything; so, the NSA was …show more content…
in danger and that he is not a hero. That percentage believes that Snowden broke the law and should face the consequences of his actions. According to the Huffington Post article with Bill Gates, some surveillance is beneficial; however, big name companies have worked with the NSA to collect information on people, most of the time without people knowing. During that time, Microsoft was one of those companies, and they got more criticism about it. Since that incident, Microsoft has been working to change user data and protect its customers more. (Huff ) It was also stated that if Snowden wanted to showcase the issues, then he could have engaged in civil disobedience or been more careful about what he was planning on releasing to the public even if people didn’t like his views (Huff). If he had released minor documents about NSA and the U.S., then he might not have had to flee the country. If he had released more minor documents, people might have admired him more or given him more respect. Another point was that some secrets of the government, such as spying on American citizens, are meant to stay secret.
The classic definition of a hero, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities; a person who is greatly admired.” A whistleblower does not usually come to mind with that classic definition. Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower that some consider a hero and others consider a traitor. So how do you classify a whistle-blower as a hero or traitor? By the information that is leaked or released? That seems to be the case for Snowden. Many believe that he did a service to the American people by released the NSA documents. However, others believe that he should not have released the documents because he has possibly put the United States in danger. There is a constant …show more content…
At the time of the release of the documents two years ago, Snowden was perceived as a hero. The release revealed to the American people that even though they had a right to privacy, they were still being spied upon without their knowledge or consent. He was considered a hero. He had exposed the secrets and lies of at least one government agency that in the past had testified in front of Congress that it did not spy on the American people unless it had a warrant to do so. He also brought to light important information such as the routine collection of a lot of data, the keeping of the data and the far-reaching collection worldwide. Snowden looked at and studied every document before deciding on what to release. Unlike past leaks, he did not put it onto Wiki Leaks or upload them to the Internet. The U.S. government collected information on millions of Americans that were not linked to terrorism in any way. The U.S. also collects information on other countries, even allies (New Yorker). Since 9/11 there has been an increase in spying with the agencies and committees that are meant to be monitoring the activities of the spying agencies who are not enforcing anything; so, the NSA was …show more content…
in danger and that he is not a hero. That percentage believes that Snowden broke the law and should face the consequences of his actions. According to the Huffington Post article with Bill Gates, some surveillance is beneficial; however, big name companies have worked with the NSA to collect information on people, most of the time without people knowing. During that time, Microsoft was one of those companies, and they got more criticism about it. Since that incident, Microsoft has been working to change user data and protect its customers more. (Huff ) It was also stated that if Snowden wanted to showcase the issues, then he could have engaged in civil disobedience or been more careful about what he was planning on releasing to the public even if people didn’t like his views (Huff). If he had released minor documents about NSA and the U.S., then he might not have had to flee the country. If he had released more minor documents, people might have admired him more or given him more respect. Another point was that some secrets of the government, such as spying on American citizens, are meant to stay secret.