Edward Snowden: Traitor or Hero
During our class presentation we discussed the political figure Edward Snowden and his very famous exploits. http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomwatson/2013/07/31/traitor-or-hero-asking-the-wrong-questions-about-manning-and-snowden/ Edward Snowden is a famous whistleblower, who we compared to Daniel Ellsberg, the man who released the pentagon papers back in the early 1970’s.
In listening to this presentation, and the information that was being discussed about Snowden, a question came to mind. Why do we say that Ellsberg was a hero, and did a brave thing by pushing through the obstacles, and getting the pentagon papers released to the public, but so many people brand Edward Snowden a traitor? Is it simply because of the time difference? Did people call Ellsberg a traitor in the 70’s? http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/06/13/snowden-failed-to-follow-ellsbergs-example/
After looking at it myself, I personally determined that a lot of it has to do with the amount of time between the analysis. People look at what Ellsberg released in 1971, but don’t really see the immediate political impact because it happened 40 years ago, and doesn’t affect us anymore. However, we take a look at the information that Edward Snowden has more recently leaked, and we see it as a cowardly, traitorous act because we are able to see the immediate effects in our life.
Will our wounds heal? Will the pain be dulled by the passage of time? Unfortunately, the only way to truly know is to wait and see. This author’s opinion is that yes, in 15+ years we’ll look at Snowden and see him as a courageous man who did what was right in the face of overwhelming adversity, the same way we look at brave Daniel Ellsberg.
Embrace the Hornswoggle 