NSA leaker is a patriot, not a traitor

"If you stop playing the game Civilization and look back at history, you'll see that there are a lot of very bad people in the world who do very bad things."

When I look back at history, I see that the worst people that have done the worst things are in fact people in state governments, using the powers of government against civilians.

You americans and your "everyone is out to get us" mentality is laughable. The fact of the matter is this - what the government has done is intrinsically unconstitutional. People calling the leaker a traitor try to back it up with the fact that he signed a non-disclosue agreement and that the law approved by a secret court says PRISM is constitutional.

Well isn't this a nice, little euthyphro dillemma? If congress rules that PRISM is unconstitutional, Snowden is suddenly NOT a traiter anymore?

Another thing - constantly mentioning "security" as a reason for surveilling an entire state just proves how much americans think with their fear, instead of their brain. Not a lot of other countries have this problem.

Lastly, by definition, U.s. is now a fascist state.

1.Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia

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2.Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need.

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3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists.

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4.Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

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5.Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

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6. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

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7. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite

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8. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

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The reason Snowden is hunted down is because he embarrassed the u.s. government. Not because he is a traitor, not because he aided Enemy(whoever that may be).

Stop watching the tv and absorbing the propaganda you're fed, and you'll realize much more.

It could be that Eric Snowden is really just a cynical bastard who was trying to get away from his family and defect to China, bargaining with the rest of the secrets he knows to live a comfortable life.

Releasing the information to the public might be just to make up for it by doing something he thinks is the right thing to do. It would also distract everyone from the truth. If they never hear from him again, they may assume he got killed or imprisoned, and this makes him look like a martyr. This alternate story will keep his family from feeling the shame of being related to a defector.

And, maybe at the same time he wanted to say a big fuck you to his former employer, the US government.

It may seem far fetched, but with the information he has, he probably knows what happens to people who defected to China, and could evaluate whether it was a good idea or bad.

I guess we'll see if any ever hears from him again. If not, it fits right into this idea.

> one must in the interest of humanity seek to understand exactly how that transition happened.

I suspect Martin-Niemöller had some insight into how this happened:

First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the socialists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.

I would add to that, any company bidding for government contracts has to accept that all bids in that tender process, including the winning bid, are to be made public after the tender process is complete.

Here in Australia too many governments agencies spend tax payer’s money, issuing big contracts to private companies and the all the contract details remain secret.

One example was a company awarded the right to build a cross city tunnel toll way. The contract included a $100 million payout to a government body in exchange for massive road closures designed to divert traffic into the (toll paying) tunnel.

All the road closures did was create traffic chaos and the secret collusion was only revealed when the tunnel company went broke.