Theu.s. The United States

Cultures using hyphenated forms of “American,” such as Mexican-American, African-American, Asian-American, Native-American and many more is a step in the right direction for culture acceptance. With this positive move in the world, there could be a change in how cultures view themselves, leading to how others view them. The multicultural society has to take into account for this change because without their acceptance it would just be hate. Bharati Mukherjee in her essay “American Dreamer,” asserts, “WE MUST BE ALERT TO THE DANGERS OF AN ‘US’ vs. ‘THEM’ MENTALITY.” Although Mukherjee has a great point here, I have to disagree. I don’t feel that we have to be aware of the ‘US’ versus ‘THEM’ mentality with the change in cultural acceptance.

In the case of the VA scandal many of the whistleblowers are scared about what will happen to them once the information is out there. “VA whistleblower reprisal cases received by OSC has been rising quickly, from 405 in fiscal 2013 to a projected 712 for fiscal 2015 – a 75 percent jump” (Davidson). The idea of the whistleblower is that the truth will be exposed and the problems will be fixed. When a whistleblower decides to come forward they are risking their jobs and how other people view them. According to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis) “The VA has a culture problem with whistleblower retaliation.” Basically Sen. Johnson is saying that if a person decides to come forward they are not guaranteed protection from retaliation by coworkers. Without these whistleblowers the VA scandal would not have come to light. The country never would have known about the falsifying of patient documents or the other problems facing the

It has become extremely easy to transmit information almost instantly without any possible way to censor it quickly enough to keep it out of the public eye. Edward Snowden is an extreme in many examples of people using technology to civilly disobey. Whistleblowers however have created a serious new issue as to whether or not their actions go beyond civil disobedience into the realm of treason. People like Chelsea Manning, who released hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents illegally, could be seen fairly easily as a traitor rather than someone trying to do the right thing. The real question with whistleblowers is whether or not they have gone beyond disobeying the law to posing a clear and present danger to the American people. In the case of Edward Snowden, most would say no. In the case of Chelsea Manning, the results are fairly

This is prominently recognized through the intents of Edward Snowden. Despite being recognized as a hero for announcing the “technical capability” the United States government has for intercepting American communications, his whistle-blowing act is obviously to fuel his own ego (Cassidy 3). For example, the information regarding America’s spying would not surprise “organized terrorist groups” that naturally avoid being monitored already, and Snowden did not even reveal the N.S.A.’s methods of surveillance (2). Additionally, he gave no classified information, so why even release it? Instead of reporting to the press, he could have protested the situation in court, as is natural when government employees are dissatisfied, but Snowden did not do so (Toobin 3). He released the secrets to fuel his narcissistic tendencies; Snowden exposed the N.S.A. because they did not “meet his own standards of propriety” (2). Society was affected negatively because of his selfish deed; panic was widespread for years and no positive changes occurred within laws. Because Snowden’s civil disobedience was egotistical, society was negatively

Freedom of expression has almost always been and continues to be a defining characteristic of United States society and politics. The country was quite literally built on the idea of having basic freedoms in life. In fact, it was these same principles in which the United States operates around the world, beneath the guise of bringing the same values in other, less fortunate countries. Which only leads to emphasize the manner in which some so called freedoms are often challenged within the social and political spheres of the United States. Freedom of expression is not only an essential part of human rights but it is also important within the social and political institutions of the United States specifically. Therefore, not only are whistleblowers within their right when publishing material to a public forum, they are contributing to the public discourse on security, transparency, and civil liberties.

There are those who do not like the idea that they are being better served than others are. It makes them feel guilty and upset; they will feel empathy and sympathy to those who never had the opportunities that they had. The minute one acknowledges that one has privilege, that individual must either act on that knowledge, or burry one’s head in the sand. Both in quality of education and in resources, those that are the most under-served are ethnic and racial minorities living in cities. On the other hand, those that are being best served are Caucasians in suburbs, who are disproportionately given the resources and money that urban schools need. Through political and racial attitudes that have persisted from our countries inception, these

Chapter 6 narrates the popular demand for a militarized “food dictatorship,” and the state leaders’ response to it. The poor Berliners challenged the market economy and believed that only a total militarized control of food distribution could serve their needs. Seeing the slow response of the authorities, the starving population found that the government failed to make their promise to reward their patriotism in the war. A byproduct at this time was anti-Semitism, separating “true Germans” from “the Jew” that were associated with profiteering (132-135). This chapter contends that the women of lesser means perceived the state’s capacity for controlling food distribution as a criterion to “adjudicate the government’s success or failure” (115). Consequently, the WWI Germany was not fully oriented to the military need and political loyalty, but full of dynamic altercation (115).

led by the Sons of Liberty: opened 342 chests of tea and dumped them into the Boston Harbor (dressed up as Native Americans)

4). Edward Snowden to many is considered a whistle blower which is a person who informs people of organization or people doing illicit acts. One of the many results that Edwards Snowden acts caused some country’s to lose trust in the United States and are cautious of the United States spying on them.

The message from these whistleblowers carries tremendous credibility as they’ve sacrificed lucrative, prestigious careers, along with risking their reputations and freedom. On the other hand, the government has demonstrated that these top secret programs are untrustworthy. After all,

One of the main foundations upon of the Constitution is the innate belief that we are a government run are by the people, yet must simultaneously watch for the corruptions of those same people who stand beside us. It is the reason that the United States has a system of checks and balances, to prevent one branch from becoming too powerful, it is why we have the electoral college, though many argue it’s exclusivity has hardly served its purpose, and it is why we have the 7th Amendment, which guarantees all civil trials (that exceed $20, ironically) to be accompanied by a jury. Though the question of its justification and use is more complex than a complete agreement or disagreement, the amendment overall deserves its place among the others, and then some. It is not insusceptible to corruption, most will admit, but we need this right both for it’s efficiency and for it’s correlation with the very foundational principles that make up our country.

The United States is a country of freedom, of liberty; it attracts many immigrants to crossed seas and rivers and set their feet on this land. People came for the diversities of job opportunities and a fresh life. For example, there was a worker agreement called Bracero Program that offered legal immigration status to Mexicans workers in America. However, after the termination of this program, immigrants still find ways to come and stay illegally because the need is still there. Surprisingly, the continuing migration created another minority group in the U.S. Most Americans do not care about how segregated these people are, but we have to understand that these people do affect our country. We all live in the same nation; our lives interconnect with each other. Regarding the minority groups, many think of blacks as they received the most racial segregation; yet the poverty between Latinos and blacks are different. Although both groups experienced similar social stigmatization, social isolation, and social immobility, black poverty is caused by historical discrimination and the economic shift; yet for Latinos, the leading cause is the anti-immigrant laws.

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

Jackson and Raftos (1997) referred to whistle blowing as an avenue of last resort. Employees find themselves in these situations when the authorities at their organisations have failed to take actions on reported issues affecting that organisation. Wimot (2000) likened whistleblowing to a spectrum. At one end of this spectrum whistleblowing would only cause minimal pain and scars on the stakeholders and organisation while on the other end is the worst scenario where the whistleblowing effects are turbulent and often experienced to be negative to all those involved (ibid).

In early 2013 a man by the name of Edward Joseph Snowden began leaking classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents to media outlets, which in turn ended up in public ears. These documents, mainly involving intelligence Snowden acquired while working as an NSA contractor, are mostly related to global surveillance programs run by the NSA. This has raised multiple ethical issues ranging from national security, information privacy and the ethics behind whistleblowing in general. The reach and impact of these leaks have gone global and have put in question the very government that protects us as well as the extent of the public’s rights on privacy. Various foreign