Reflections on the Snowden Case

After I watched the movie, it made me wonder, “what would I do if I’m in his situation, What
would I do if I learned my employer was doing something illegal, while justifying it as being for the
greater good of U.S. citizens? Would I quit? Speak up and risk prosecution and joblessness? Keep my
head down and continue working?”. I castigated the NSA for violating the privacy rights of Americans
and essentially treating everyone as guilty until proven innocent. Snowden was right to object to the
NSA’s misdeeds, and although some of the leaked information could be damaging for national security,
the fact remains that these leaks might never have taken place had it not been for these misdeeds.
Hence, much of the blame for the leaks must go to the federal government. Furthermore, there was a
benefit to these leaks in the sense that they alerted Americans to just how much our privacy was being
invaded. Civil liberties cannot be defended if people do not realize that they are being violated.

Bearing in mind that the invasions of privacy by the NSA played a crucial role in causing the
leaks, it is unjust to punish Snowden while the agents who invaded our privacy go free. And it is unjust
to punish the agents, since they were either allowed to or ordered to commit these invasions of privacy.
Therefore, the best solution is to issue a pardon both to Snowden and to the agents who played fast and
loose with our civil liberties. Hopefully, once he is allowed to return to his native country without facing
punishment, the whistleblower will abandon his allegiance to the reprehensible Putin Regime. I also
hope that the leaking of classified information will serve as a warning to the government to show more
restraint in its surveillance programs from now on. Whatever the facts of Snowden’s case, the film
compels me to live with more courage to act upon my firm convictions, rather than staying silent and
fearful. For that reason I believe there’s value in this story of a complicated man who made questionable
choices from a sense of duty at a great cost to his own freedom.