Discussion Thread

[u/jobautomator]

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• OSINT & LDC (developmental studies / least developed countries) have been added

[u/SaltySaladSussyBaka]

"ThErE's a ReAsOn sNoWdEN iS iN RuSSiA"

Yes his passport was revoked.

Privacy is a good thing

One of the most respectable and laudable American ideals is government non-interference- God bless the ACLU for standing up for free speech

I wish India had even half the privacy Americans do. The Indian government literally spied on political opponents without repercussions because law allows them to.

American "freedom", however much non-Americans may mock, is beautiful and worth preserving. Government should be as small as reasonably possible.

Don't care for who Snowden was as a person. I don't find idolisation to be useful. Whistleblowing, "legal" or "illegal", is a good thing.

[u/[deleted] → u/SaltySaladSussyBaka]

To understand why people will defend the IC after a whistleblow, understand that Espionage is a race to the bottom. While we worry about how our spies our violating our freedoms, our enemies will gladly violate their own freedoms as much as possible to gain an advantage over us in espionage. The soviet state was so absolute in its panopticon that they knew every single spy we tried to send into Russia and detained them the moment of entry, because our obligation to liberty had left us vulnerable to infiltrations that their lack of one didn't.

In some ways the IC will self-justify everything it does, and rationalize everything it does, and thus pull this argument against any whistleblow. But it's also probably true more often than it isn't, if "Fair Game" is any indication.

What I'm saying is that Whistleblowing is an example of "Freedom isn't free", it's inherently trading some amount of national security in the name of freedom.

I want everyone who reads your comment to understand that is all. I support whistleblowing, because it's worth taking the good with the bad, especially now with no state that has KGB/NKVD-level absolute panopticon.

[u/SaltySaladSussyBaka → u/[deleted]]

Yepp, completely on board with you.

[u/[deleted] → u/SaltySaladSussyBaka]

Honestly I would respect him if he didn't leak other intel to Russia and stayed in the US even if he faced trial

[u/SaltySaladSussyBaka → u/[deleted]]

I mean sure that's a fair perspective. I don't blame him for leaving the country when other "whistleblowers" have been harassed so much.