Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
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Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
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Re: Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
#21. Expose the Government.
2. Run from the Government.
3. Profit.
Re: Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
#3What I find interesting is that my opinions on Edward Snowden have drastically changed over time.
When the leaks first came out, I regarded him as a hero, for exposing what the US Government was doing. At this time my view of the world was extremely America centric, where all other countries were pretty powerless and the US was the only one doing such deeds. I think this view was fairly naive.
In the last decade my thinking has changed. After seeing that Russia, China, many EU countries, Iran, and Israel have similar programs and are also weaponizing the internet, I've come to think of Edward Snowden as a traitor. It is not just the US doing these things, everyone is. He exposed the US's tools and has weakened the US's security position immensely. Countries like China and Russia are gaining in this new battlefield, and what advantage the US had has was lost with Snowden. It is now more like if he leaked the schematics of US weapons to Russia during the cold war. I find it telling as well that he fled to Russia.
I find many people have had a similar turn of opinion with Julian Assange. Perhaps it is because Geo Politics has simply gotten more confusing -- it does seem that America is no longer the 'World Police'
But on the other hand, he did wake up Americans to the concept of security. Once the cat was out of the bag that everyone was being spied on, and that governments have the power to breach systems, it seems that people have come to care more about these matters. I would say this a good thing
He is definitely a very interesting topic
Re: Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
#4What I find interesting is that my opinions on Edward Snowden have drastically changed over time. When the leaks first came out, I regarded him as a hero, for exposing what the US Government was doing. At this time my view of the world was extremely America centric, where all other countries were pretty powerless and the US was the only one doing such deeds. I think this view was fairly naive. In the last decade my t…
> I find it telling as well that he fled to Russia
He didn't flee to Russia. He fled to Hong Kong, hoping to live a good life outside the great firewall by getting into the PRC's good graces via transfer of classified material to them. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1266777/exclusiv...
Unfortunately for him, China just laughed at him and kicked him out.
If there's a lesson in all this, it's to pay attention in reading comprehension lessons in elementary school or you might misread documents, get paranoid, and flee to oppressive regimes.
Re: Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
#5Is Vlad getting a cut for hosting him?
Re: Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
#6What I find interesting is that my opinions on Edward Snowden have drastically changed over time. When the leaks first came out, I regarded him as a hero, for exposing what the US Government was doing. At this time my view of the world was extremely America centric, where all other countries were pretty powerless and the US was the only one doing such deeds. I think this view was fairly naive. In the last decade my t…
It's not about inter-nation spying. It was about the NSA secretly spying on the US's own citizens, on its own companies. This is not acceptable, and that is why it's illegal - it subverts democracy. "China and Russia are doing it" is not an excuse for that - they are examples of countries we should not aspire to be like.
Also, regarding this geopolitical information warfare business - none of us were told about this, or asked if this was a game we wanted to play. That is not how democracy is supposed to work. Defense, sure. But the best defense against the current way that Russia/China is weaponizing the internet is sunlight, not secrecy. In this too, the NSA is derelict.
Also Snowden didn't "flee to Russia" - that's pure right-wing "talking point" (lie). His passport was suspended by the US State Department while on layover in Moscow.
Re: Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
#7What I find interesting is that my opinions on Edward Snowden have drastically changed over time. When the leaks first came out, I regarded him as a hero, for exposing what the US Government was doing. At this time my view of the world was extremely America centric, where all other countries were pretty powerless and the US was the only one doing such deeds. I think this view was fairly naive. In the last decade my t…
It's not about inter-nation spying. It was about the NSA secretly spying on the US's own citizens, on its own companies. This is not acceptable, and that is why it's illegal - it subverts democracy. "China and Russia are doing it" is not an excuse for that - they are examples of countries we should not aspire to be like. Also, regarding this geopolitical information warfare business - none of us were told about this,…
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Re: Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
#8What I find interesting is that my opinions on Edward Snowden have drastically changed over time. When the leaks first came out, I regarded him as a hero, for exposing what the US Government was doing. At this time my view of the world was extremely America centric, where all other countries were pretty powerless and the US was the only one doing such deeds. I think this view was fairly naive. In the last decade my t…
It's not about inter-nation spying. It was about the NSA secretly spying on the US's own citizens, on its own companies. This is not acceptable, and that is why it's illegal - it subverts democracy. "China and Russia are doing it" is not an excuse for that - they are examples of countries we should not aspire to be like. Also, regarding this geopolitical information warfare business - none of us were told about this,…
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Re: Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
#9What I find interesting is that my opinions on Edward Snowden have drastically changed over time. When the leaks first came out, I regarded him as a hero, for exposing what the US Government was doing. At this time my view of the world was extremely America centric, where all other countries were pretty powerless and the US was the only one doing such deeds. I think this view was fairly naive. In the last decade my t…
> I find it telling as well that he fled to Russia He didn't flee to Russia. He fled to Hong Kong, hoping to live a good life outside the great firewall by getting into the PRC's good graces via transfer of classified material to them. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1266777/exclusiv... Unfortunately for him, China just laughed at him and kicked him out. If there's a lesson in all this, it's to pay attent…
The linked article talks about Snowden publishing data on US operations in China as parts of the leaks, it does not seem to corroborate your claim that he was trying to be "getting into the PRC's good graces via transfer of classified material to them".
Re: Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
#10What I find interesting is that my opinions on Edward Snowden have drastically changed over time. When the leaks first came out, I regarded him as a hero, for exposing what the US Government was doing. At this time my view of the world was extremely America centric, where all other countries were pretty powerless and the US was the only one doing such deeds. I think this view was fairly naive. In the last decade my t…
The simple answer is that you have been consuming too much mass media, and have succumbed to its insidious bias.
This "weaponization" of the Internet narrative is based around casting vulnerabilities as if they're "nobody's fault", rather than mundane gross negligence. The digital realm inherently favors defenders - if there is no logic error, packets just bounce off. And this applies even in the less-certain psychological realm - foster a culture of rejecting sensationalized propaganda and it will no longer rule elections!
But a narrative based around shoring up defenses and being diligent would be pretty boring. And the news media certainly doesn't want to attack propaganda generally, merely stave off "Russian" propaganda to preserve their own authority. So the whole topic gets sensationalized as the age-old escalation-aimed status quo - governments saber ratting at each other to drum up internal support.
But free people are not countries and we are especially not governments. What Snowden exposed was how governments, specifically the US government, are attacking their own citizens in the name of this "security". Everybody involved in tech should have already known, but just didn't want to admit it to themselves because it is so "anti-American" and conflicts with the web 2.0 gravy train. Snowden certainly wasn't the first, but he was at the right time with the right information the public can grok (XKEYSCORE vs 641A).
Additionally, the government has no philosophical mandate without the oversight of and subservience to The People. If you want to throw around the term "traitor", look no further than these agencies that swear oath to the Constitution and then work to undermine it by escaping from its governance! No matter how much "collateral damage" was done to that game of USG spooks playing with other spooks, spilling the beans is justified to push these activities back under control of the People.
"Blindly trust us, we're working behind the scenes to keep you safe, but can't tell you how" is not the setup of a Free society. This is the overarching dynamic that the mass media generally downplays in their present narrative, preferring people identify with the power structure rather than emphasizing how it is acting against them.