Edward Snowden: Hero or Traitor?

992 Words2 Pages

Threats are posed to America everyday. But is it really a threat when the large civilian population doesn’t know about it? Think of it like keeping a bunch of lab rats in a dark box. In the box one provides them with food, shelter, warmth, and protection. When one day, rather suddenly these lab rats are thrown out into the open. Exposed to the elements and dangers of living in the wild, they go into a panic, resulting in a mass hysteria. Would it have been better to leave the mice in the dark, where they were safe and protected? Or do they have a right to know what was going on outside in the world? In this analogy America is represented by the mice, we live happily in the dark, going about our daily lives in blissful ignorance. So when suddenly this scary new world of threats and of knowledge appears to us we do not know how to react. We cannot scuttle back to the black unknown that we lived in before. We are given the choice, accept the new changes and go along with the common stream of thought siding with all that is familiar. Clinging to our government as a scared child hiding behind its’ mothers skirts. Or do we side with the rebel, who brought forth the knowledge to us and offers us the forbidden fruit? But if we follow the new knowledge, does it cause a bigger problem among the people? This potentially results in dividing the people into sides and causing a rift in the delicate trust that the people have built with the government. The immediate hysteria caused by Snowden among the civilian population has mostly dispersed but has lead to questions like “What else are they not telling us?” or “Can a government corrupt enough to spy on its own people be worthy of our trust?” and “Will they stop here? Or is more yet to come?” E...

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