Edward Snowden: Hero Or Villain?

Furthermore, Edward Snowden had done more than disclose the governments illegals acts, but also inform the world about programs and secret government agendas about how much freedom and privacy is being taken away in the name of security. Samuel Adams also once said, “The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.” In this sense, Edward Snowden had valued freedom more so over anything against it, and had acted as he did fighting and defending his individual freedom. Edward Snowden had also fought for the truth, and not only exposed the government, but also to the American people what was happening to their rights and freedoms. The many stories and historical freedom fighters had even put their lives on the line for truth and liberty, and Edward Snowden had also done the same and succeeding in continuing the fight for freedom. Many who also who perceive Edward Snowden as a hero inspire them to do the same as he had, and exposing the government of their false truths and secrecy.

Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.

Edward Snowden “is the world’s most famous spy, whistleblower, and fugitive, responsible for the biggest intelligence breach in recent US History” (MacAskill 2013). Snowden leaked documents to journalist that exposed the partners of the United States, it’s spy agencies, and domestic surveillance of citizens out of the country. He leaked the information because he believed the public people should be the voice on whether or not the policies were moral or immoral. Just like Henry Thoreau, Snowden believed that the people should do what they believe is right for themselves and not follow the orders of the government if they believe the laws and policies are unjust.

Snowden said, “This is a turning point, and it marks the beginning of a new effort to reclaim our rights from the NSA and restore the public's seat at the table of government.” (NY Times). In this statement Edward Snowden shows that by disclosing government programs like spying on citizens, it will allow the public to decide whether or not we want our government to have the power to do so. Though the NSA was mainly out to find terrorists and others of that nature, by tapping into phone calls and emails, the people of the United States, rightfully so, had different

Societies were first formed to create unity and order, and while some freedom must be sacrificed in order for society to function, people should not have to give up their basic human rights. There are clear instances in which disobedience has a negative connotation. A child not listening to their parent’s bed time is certainly not classified as a hero like Martin Luther King Jr. Juvenile rebellion is what people typically view as disobedience. Laws function to maintain order in society. Without a set of rules, the world would be chaotic. But it is the citizen's’ job to recognize when a rule is unjust. There is a distinct difference between rebellion and rebellion with a moral cause. For instance, violating traffic laws does nothing to enact social reforms; it is an act of self interest and can result in serious harm. On the other hand, calling into question a serious social issue, like segregation, could bring change to an immoral law. So, while cases of self-serving disobedience are fruitless excuses to violate the law, rebellion can be a crucial tool used to enact social reforms. Although order is necessary for society to function, there are instances when laws are unfair and must be changed for the good of the

Edward Snowden showed that by disclosing government programs like these, the public to decide whether or not we want are government to have the right to do this. As a result of the NSA data collection leaks, Snowden has changed some of our views on government policies and how they effect our private lives. Knowing what we know now, about how the government has been spying on the American public, we are able to discuss all of these issues and bring up our concerns and possible feelings of being violated in un constitutional ways by our own

Known as the symbolism for freedom, the United States of America has maintained its proclaimed title through democracy principles. On May 2013, these principles were put to the test. Edward Snowden, a former Intelligence community analyst fled to Hong Kong leaving his family and life behind to take a stand for democracy. He revealed documents on the National Security Agency (NSA) using mass surveillance programs that appeared to be working outside of the US Constitution. This act jeopardized his freedom and liberty as he was charged with the 1917 Espionage act. Known as a hero to many, yet, a lawbreaker to others, it does not take away the fact that he uncovered the United States to be at risk of becoming nationally oppressive. Mass surveillance

Edward Snowden is an American citizen who had worked for the Central Intelligence Agency otherwise known as the C.I.A. Edward is what many refer to as a "whistle blower", or someone who spills out confidential intelligence to the general public and exposes the government for potentially violating basic human rights. Edward Snowden revealed to the American people how the government had been using personal devices such as laptops and cell phones to listen in on citizens everyday life and to see what they did when nobody was around. This was invasion of privacy, and Snowden was going to be tried for treason until he quickly took refuge in Russia where he was granted asylum. This is an example of a very recent issue in which this problem with the invasion of privacy still occurs. It will take more people who believe in what is right to speak out against a corrupt

It’s the summer of 2013; media outlets everywhere were plastering the words “NSA” and “Snowden” across their broadcasts. What did this mean for the typical citizen and who was Snowden? In June 2013 a man named Edward Snowden who worked with the National Security Agency (NSA) released over 1.7 million documents of NSA data to the public (“Edward Snowden”). There were many questions to be asked and an overwhelming amount of information and misinformation provided by the media.

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the

When the average American hears the word “spy” an image of a secret agent deep in the heart of Soviet territory, or a memory of his or her favorite James Bond movie probably pops into his or her head. This glorification of spying is no doubt a product of Hollywood’s dramatic representation of what they think a spy should be. The reality of what modern day spying consists of came as a shock to most when on June 5, 2013, an NSA contractor by the name of Edward Snowden executed what many consider to be the most significant leak of government information in U.S. history. Overnight, the American people learned that their government had been executing personal data collection of massive proportions. It was the U.S. Government’s worst fear, the people

Privacy has endured throughout human history as the pillar upon which our authentic nature rests. Yet, in an age darkened by the looming shadow of terrorism, another force threatens to dominate the skyline and obscure the light of liberty behind promises of safety and security: government surveillance. As an employee of the NSA, Edward Snowden broke his vow of secrecy to inform the public of our government’s furtive surveillance acts, but does this render him traitorous? To answer this, we must first ask ourselves, traitorous to whom? When the very institution established to protect our fundamental liberties intrudes on our privacy from behind a veil of secrecy, should such informed individuals resign from judicious autonomy and

Imagine that you are sitting down looking at your phone. You are scrolling through social media and rapidly become tired of seeing the same thing repeatedly. You endlessly scroll through posts until you get a message from your friend talking about something personal they need to tell you. In your mind, no one except you two will see that information. That’s what we all believe, however we might all just be wrong. After Edward Snowden released the information that the NSA was spying on millions of Americans in 2014, a public debate sparked not about how much privacy we really have, but also ridiculing Snowden for his actions. Viewpoints on the issue of whether Snowden is a hero or traitor vary in each person, depending on what you believe the government has the right to know about our lives. While John Cassidy and Jeffrey Toobin are on opposite sides of that issue, Nate Fick and The New York Times Editorial Board bridge the gap between the two.

Although Snowden’s intentions were meant for “public awareness”, he stirred up a little too much awareness than he imagined. During the first year of the leak, people had increased distrust with their own government. “.. The world began to learn the vast scope of the National Security Agency’s reaches into the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe, as it collects information about their phone calls, their email messages, their friends and contacts, how they spend their days and where they spend their nights.”(The Editorial Boardjan) People like to live in blissful ignorance and once they find out that their privacy has been compromised, paranoia takes

This would lead us to the the most important question that should be asked here: What differentiates Snowden from the previous whistleblowers like Julian Assange, Daniel Ellsberg, Bradley Manning and many others, making him ‘the most wanted man’ by the US government? The exceptionality of Snowden which will be analyzed in the next chapter might show if it is a reason behind the reforms emerged later or