The United States of America was founded and has been built on the principles of freedom. From the very beginning, the nation has been working towards equality for all. As such, it allows for peaceful protestation of laws that are considered to be unfair or wrong by some. Thus, peaceful resistance to laws has a positive impact upon a free society. Resistance has always been the way that change has been accomplished. The United States of America resisted Great Britain and so became a great nation. Martin Luther King Jr. resisted the segregation and racism of his day which led toward a nation that was better and more equal for all. Edward Snowden released information on the government spying into people's homes. While the first example is not …show more content…
was a reverend who fought for peace. He was very much nonviolent. A pacifist. In his letter from the Birmingham Jail he wrote, "In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action." His first step was not to become enraged. It was to gather more information to see whether there really was some sort of prejudice or injustice occurring. His second step was negotiation. He wanted to work things out through talk if possible. He wanted to right the wrongs without anyone coming to harm of any sort. His third step was self-purification. He wanted to prepare himself. He wanted to be able to endure the hurt that could come from a resistance such as the one he was undertaking.He wanted to wipe all the blemishes and jagged edges of himself away. His fourth step was the most difficult. It was direct action. It wasn't the kind of action that men usually take. He wasn't going to lash out or hurt someone. What he was to do was to let the blows fall where they may. He was prepared to be hurt by his fellow men in order to accomplish his goals. He wouldn't retaliate when struck. He endured the harshness of jail. He took the difficult route. The one that made a thousand enemies for him so that change could occur. That change has made a more equal nation for …show more content…
It was a comfortable job. He had everything he could have wanted. The problem was that the government was spying on everyone. It was spying on enemy nations, allied nations, and the nation that it was sworn to protect. He showed the enormous scale of what the government was doing. The reason he got in trouble was because those in power would rather have kept that information a secret. They would rather have not let anyone know what they were doing. No lasting damage was done. No people were harmed. There was no large leak of sensitive information. It was one man, saying something that he thought was right to do. He simply felt that what was being done was wrong and said something about
Dr. Martin Luther King addressed many topics in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He answered all the issues that were aimed at him in a very skillful and well thought out manner. These issues came from “A Call For Unity”, which was a letter published by eight local clergymen expressing their feelings about what Dr. King was doing. One concern, in particular, that King did an outstanding job of confronting was that of the clergymen’s anxiety about him breaking the law. King addresses the question of, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?”
It is the way of life in this age, to search the internet for leisure, research and general amusement. When you are not able to communicate with someone face to face, you pick up the phone. When you venture out of your house for any reason and into populated areas, you are recorded by businesses, photographed by red light cameras, and recorded by traffic cameras. The government has the capacity to watch all of this use. Last year, Edward Snowden’s leaked documents proved it that Big Brother is indeed watching. (Orwell 1)
Edward Snowden was an American computer specialist that worked for the CIA and as a contractor for the NSA. He disclosed classified files over several media sources, that were evidence that the NSA was collecting data from the phone calls and internet activities of most Americans. Snowden thought that by revealing these secret government activities that Americans would realized that their privacy is being invaded and that they need to do something about it.
"The persecution of the Jews in the General Government in Polish territory gradually worsened in its cruelty. In 1939 and 1940 they were forced to wear the Star of David and were herded together and confined in ghettos. In 1941 and 1942 this unadulterated sadism was fully revealed. And then a thinking man, who had overcome his inner cowardice, simply had to help. There was no other choice."
...that had helped the United States to be one of the greatest counties that it is today. Within the agency, there was no communications where they kept information from each other. The CIA agency had no idea what they were doing in regards to central intelligence and they were compromised where the enemies knew about the attack before the attack was fully implemented. These examples prove that some leaders had some positive outcomes for the United States, but the agency from within could not stay united as well as keeping communications about what was going on in the world. I agree with Tim Weiner’s thesis that the United States is one of the greatest countries in the world, but we cannot seem to create a great and efficient spy service to benefit the United States.
Are government whistleblowers acting in the public interest, or do they endanger the public by exposing classified information? Just as government transparency has waned in recent years, there have been several instances of very public national intelligence whistle-blowing. Large scale leaks such as those published by The Guardian and WikiLeaks have prompted debate on issues of government secrecy, as well as the balance between security and liberty. High profile whistleblowers like Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden have, at great personal risk, leaked classified information to the public in the interest of transparency. Leaked media and documents range from embarrassing, to potentially dangerous. Heightened levels of secrecy and surveillance in the name of fighting terrorism have led to increasing distrust of the American government both at home and abroad. Since 9/11, the number of classified government documents has increased from 8 million to 76 million per year (“We Steal Secrets”). Meanwhile, the US intercepts 60 thousand phone and email communications every second (“We Steal Secrets”). NSA revelations leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013 revealed levels of government surveillance previously unknown and done with little oversight. Government whistleblowers perform an important public service by exposing secrets and should be protected from prosecution.
Edward Snowden, the famous “whistleblower”, shocked the world with his revelations about the NSA’s database and the programs which allow the organization to access personal information not only of citizens of other nations, but also of citizens of the U.S. The most shocking revelation of all was not the existence of these programs, but the fact that the Obama administration allowed those programs to exist in direct violation of every U.S. citizen’s right to privacy.
Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the extent of the N.S.A breaches of American privacy and in doing so, became ostracized by the media and barred from freely reentering America, his home country.
he was a prepared spy who worked covert as an agent for the CIA and NSA. Snowden clarified
This letter powerfully persuades his points on why he was in Birmingham, why he acted in a non-violent direct action, why the timing was when it was and that segregation needs to end. He uses this letter in order to persuade the clergymen into understanding his reasons for all the above. He uses logos, pathos and ethos to show the passion behind his cause. This letter opened eyes onto people of that time. Segregation is unjust and that the laws should not bend just for color. He quotes St. Augustine, “an unjust law is no law at all.” This quote sums up the whole letter and its purpose; laws should be just for all and that when it is not it is man’s job to seek justice, peacefully. Just as peacefully he had done with the non-violent protest.
Resistance to unjust laws has been a major part of United States History since its beginnings. The entire nation was formed out of a rebellion from the abusive English. Over time, however, less violent means have been used to express feelings toward an unjust law. Most famously is the example of Martin Luther King Jr. and others who have taken inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, who believed "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind." It seems that in more recent years, resistance to any law has been deemed a taboo. Perhaps the most prominent instance is that of Edward Snowden. Snowden revealed the true depth of surveillance from US Government Agencies, and was deemed a hero by some for doing so. Nevertheless, Snowden was convicted of espionage and
Throughout his education, Martin Luther King Jr. tried to find a way to demonstrate his belief of racial equality with the most effective means possible. He quickly realized that the best strategy to end segregation was to use nonviolent forms of protest. At Crozer, Morehouse and Boston University, he studied the teaching of Mohandas Gandhi, who used nonviolent methods to help India claim its independence from Britain. King read several books on the ideas of Gandhi, and eventually became convinced that his methods could be employed by African Americans to obtain equality in America. King knew that any violence on the part of African Americans would lead to violent responses from segregationists, which would lead to injury or maybe even death for his followers. He had to teach his followers not to respond violently to cruel attacks from segregationists. King decided to sponsor workshops to train African Americans in nonviolent beh...
To give the full picture of Edward Snowden I must start before his role in the government. Edward Snowden never graduated from high school, nor did he graduate from community college (Yann 1). In 2003 He joined the U.S. Army briefly until he was discharged when he broke both his legs in a training accident (BBC 1). His first job with the NSA was as a security guard, until he took a job at the CIA dealing with computer security (Yann 2). Edward’s final job, the one that gave him access to the leaks, was in Hawaii with a six figure salary (BBC 2). Snowden was a systems administrator, meaning he had the responsibility to go through the NSA database and move extremely sensitive documents to a secure location (NPR 1). His position was the perfect place for him to leak all the secrets the NSA held close. Edward Snowden’s activities were seen by the NSA the entire time, he didn’t have to hide that he was taking the documents it was his job (NPR 2). Mr. Snowden left for Hong Kong after he leaked his information, but once there he flew to Moscow because Hong Kong had a treaty with the...
Snowden had access to high security files while working there and he noticed that the US government was spying secretly on all of its citizens via calls and internet usage. This information was from a program which is known as PRISM (Planning tool for resource integration, synchronization and management). Snowden began collecting information about this program and the activities it is carrying out. He did not try to meet any of his higher officials regarding this incident but while he was still working in NSA. He approached his higher officials for a leave of absence. Snowden flew to Hong Kong in china, it was where he decided to blow the whistle and ...
This paper will examine the sensational highlight of the famous whistleblower Edward Snowden who has sent a massive shockwave around the world after exposing National Security Agency (NSA) global surveillance program which is known as PRISM which is used by the US government and private agency to monitor and record user’s activity on the internet not only on US citizen but around the world. This essay will examine the case studies of Edward Snowden and a will apply a set of comprehensive ethical methodology by Liffick top-down approach in investigating ethical scenario as follows: list participants and their action, reduce list through simplifying assumptions, legal considerations, list possible options of the participants, list