What did you expect here, other than being down-voted, for making some sense or offering an alternate view of things?
You are speaking to the "Me Me Me Generation" as Joel Stein puts it.
"Lazy, entitled, selfish and shallow."
Snowden is the poster child for this generation.
"A narcissistic young man who has decided he is smarter than the rest of us", as Bob Schieffer called him.
The only thing that separates this generation of whistle blowers, if they were to take after Snowden, from the previous ones would be their insincerity of purpose and a distinct lack of selflessness.
Instead of being lauded for standing firm and facing consequences they will be known for their penchant for fleeing and bolting to foreign lands that they find hospitable to their ill-thought-out missions.
Character and how its reflected doesn't change with the times.
On occasion, history fails to take note of certain heroes.
However it also tells us that cowards have never brought about ground swells or changed human events.
The ones whose character should be questioned are the ones who stay at agencies like the NSA, being either too cowardly to release documents or even just get out, or who are staying because they agree with the policies.
The ludicrous idea of calling someone who has just given up the chance of a normal life for years to come, maybe forever, "lazy, entitled and shallow" is something that takes a substantial disconnect from reality to come up with.
This is Bill Clinton - whose spouse, from all accounts, will most likely be running for the office of President in 2016 - on NSA Security Leaks and Snowden.
"I don't see any alternative to trying to track all these groups around the world who are trying to wreck the ordinary operations of life in America and probably kill a lot of people. I am not persuaded that they (NSA) have done more harm than good"
If deaths by terrorism ever comes close to the number of deaths by automobile accidents I will reconsider my position that giving up the rights outlined in the constitution is an inappropriate response to terrorism.
Two wars, thousands dead, trillions of dollars spent, indefinite detainment of people in Guantanamo, a government takeover of airport security, FBI drones flying in the US, rubberstamped warrants for spying on Americans, the list goes on for quite a while. At what point is it proper to say the "cure" is worse than the disease?
> The only thing that separates this generation of whistle blowers, if they were to take after Snowden, from the previous ones would be their insincerity of purpose and a distinct lack of selflessness.
Because the Gov't treated all of the other NSA whistleblowers that used official channels as heroes, by firing them and trying to charge them with crimes? Either no one in the NSA has any character and people today are so different from yesterday, or the way the US treats whistleblowers has changed and people have adapted.
Who cares if Snowden isn't a perfect human being and martyr? It matters more to me that he was concerned with the safety and privacy of all Americans.
I agree here. If Snowden had a) stayed in the US and or b) stayed on message ("The US govt. should not spy on US citizens") he would have been credible to me.
I lost respect when he started to make statements re: the NSA's activities counter China, especially when he was hiding in China at a time when China/US talks re: espionage were taking place.
I agree with you, and I'm surprised more commenters on Hacker News can't distinguish between the two activities of helping US citizens and harming the US government.
He's helping the American people, even if that "hurts" the government. The US government can take a flying leap until they return to assisting all of us instead of their friends and cronies.
As far as staying in the US goes, rather than rehash grey-area's superb take down of this argument, I'll just point you straight to the source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5928295
You are speaking to the "Me Me Me Generation" as Joel Stein puts it.
"Lazy, entitled, selfish and shallow."
Snowden is the poster child for this generation.
"A narcissistic young man who has decided he is smarter than the rest of us", as Bob Schieffer called him.
The only thing that separates this generation of whistle blowers, if they were to take after Snowden, from the previous ones would be their insincerity of purpose and a distinct lack of selflessness.
Instead of being lauded for standing firm and facing consequences they will be known for their penchant for fleeing and bolting to foreign lands that they find hospitable to their ill-thought-out missions.
Character and how its reflected doesn't change with the times.
On occasion, history fails to take note of certain heroes.
However it also tells us that cowards have never brought about ground swells or changed human events.
Source:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143001,00....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU5-r6mw6nQ