The essay “ The Insufficiency of Honesty” by Stephen L. Carter discusses the definition of integrity and honesty and how they have different meanings. Carter argues that integrity is to stand up for the action rather than not doing anything for it and honesty is to trust others and be truthful to others. The article, “Yes, Edward Snowden Is a Traitor” by Zachary Keck, describes how Snowden is a traitor because he leaks out the information from the National Security Agency. However, he takes this step to show the public how government is spying on its people to prevent attacks, but he does not stand up for the consequences of his actions. Carter’s definition of integrity helps the readers to understand Keck’s arguments how Snowden does not …show more content…
Keck writes about how Snowden’s manner was wrong to reach out to the public in order to reveal the information from the NSA. Keck argues that Snowden should have first discussed with his co-workers in the NSA because they could have been seeing this spying on the people. The author writes, “In my view, a true whistleblower would have first pursued legal avenues for reining in the NSA, such as seeking out sympathetic members of congress. The American people, after all, elect people to serve in congress” …show more content…
Keck describes how Snowden fails to prove his reasons for leaking the information and take a flight to Hong Kong. The author writes, “Snowden’s flight to Hong Kong and then to Moscow showed he wasn’t willing to suffer the consequences for his actions, calling into question how much he believed in his cause” (Keck). Keck describes the quote how Snowden does not have confidence in himself to take his position in the society and give reasons for his actions. As Carter’s requirements of integrity, Kack proves how Snowden does not act on what is right, instead Snowden proves that he is not capable enough to face the society and give them response to their questions and doubt for his righteousness. If Snowden believed in his actions, he could’ve stayed in the United States to claim his perspective to the information that he has gathered. Therefore, he fails to complete the requirements of integrity and proves himself as a
In “The Death of Honesty,” William Damon raises the concern that current apathy towards increasing dishonesty threatens democracy. In this essay taken from the online volume “Endangered Virtues ” published by the Hoover Institute in 2012, Damon initially concedes that there are situations where lying could be considered acceptable. However, with that being acknowledged, he transitions to his main premise that honesty is losing its importance in society and will lead to its downfall, and he cites examples in politics, law, journalism, and business in contemporary society where dishonesty is expected, and even, condoned. Damon finally directs his remarks pointedly at teachers and current students who accept cheating in schools. To persuade his audience of university students and academic scholars, Damon uses many rhetorical devices and styles including classical logos, pathos, and ethos, and allusions to make an ethical appeal regarding the necessity for honesty.
He felt goose pimples clacking all over him as he gazed down despondently at the grim secret Snowden had spilled all over the messy floor. It was easy to read the message in his entails. Man was matter, that was Snowden’s secret. Drop him out a window and he will fall. Set fire to him and he will burn.
In the essay “The Rules about the Rules,” Carter sets forth his views on integrity. Throughout this essay, he explains to readers the three rules of integrity. The first step is the difficult process of discerning one’s deepest understanding of right and wrong. The second step is knowing what one believes. This means one knows and understands what is right from wrong and puts what is right into effect. Last but not least, the third and most important step is the person must be willing to say that he or she is acting upon what he or she has decided what is right. Carter believes integrity is a moral virtue that should be consistently acted upon throughout readers’ lives.
Keck, Zachary. "Yes, Edward Snowden Is a Traitor." The Diplomat. N.p., 21 Dec. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2014
While the words Traitor and Hero are easy to define and understand it is the perspective of the viewer and society they exist within that gives the words relevance. A Traitor to one may be a Hero to another. In this Essay the researcher hopes to demonstrate that Edward Snowden is both a Hero and a Traitor.
In early June 2013, Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former defense contractor who had access to NSA database while working for an intelligence consulting company, leaked classified documents reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) is recording phone calls of millions of Americans along with gathering private data and spying foreign Internet activity. The Washington Post later broke the news disclosed PRISM, a program can collect data on Internet users. The leaked documents publicly stated a vast objection. Many people were shocked by the scale of the programs, even elected representatives were unaware of the surveillance range. A nationwide debate over privacy rights have been sparked. Although supporters claim that the NSA only does its best to protect the United States from terrorists as well as respecting Americans' rights and privacy, many civil rights advocates feel that the government failed to be clear about the limit of the surveillance programs, threatening Americans' civil...
Now, the debate rages on: Is Edward Snowden an American hero or an American villain. The United States government wants to bring treason and espionage against him for leaking some of the most confidential government secrets, but, what most people didn’t know before this whole debacle was that the government was uncontrollably spying on its people using any type of phone, tablet, or computer, Now the government’s response to the outrage of the people would be that they are protecting them from possible terrorists, but some may still ask the question of: Is the government violating my privacy? After gathering all the information, it is up to you to decide: Is Edward Snowden an American hero for exposing to the people of the U.S. the government’s dirty spying secrets or is he an American traitor guilty of espionage and treason?
Rather than allow the numerous repercussions Snowden now faces stop him, Snowden chose to make the public aware of wrongs committed against them, even if it meant going against the government. The American people and their right to their privacy drove Edward Snowden to make a personal decision, and the result was not that of a traitor, but that of a hero and a man undeserving of the hatred and rejection made by the country he was striving to support.
In Stephen L Carter's "The Insufficiency of Honesty", he attempts to dissect exactly what it means to be honest and to have integrity in the worlds view. We soon realize as a reader that it takes a greater deal of effort to participate in
The adage of the adage. Edward Snowden was a security guard that worked for the National Security Agency (NSA). After three months Edward Snowden started to collect NSA files and fled to Hong Kong and leaked the files. China started to print out reports of the files that Edward Snowden has leaked to China about the NSA spying on U.S. citizens. The reason that Edward Snowden left the United States (U.S.) and leaked the NSA files is because he believed that what he had done was ethically correct and did not want people’s rights to be taken away.
Stephen L. Carter goes on to say, “Although honesty is a virtue of importance, it is a different virtue from integrity” meaning that it is related to integrity but does not define all of it. As individual will listen to what they wan to hear without knowing the true definition of a word like integrity. There is more to it than just speaking the words a person must understand the true definition. A society looks at the word integrity as everyone speaks of this work but society does not know anything rally about it truly. In example to what Carter beliefs that many individuals act up selfishness because society has made them believe that by saying the truth yes do help oneself but is not an act of integrity when the truth hurts those around. The way to look at is society as a whole is becoming more a person can be entirely honest without ever lifting a finger during the hard work of discernment that integrity. Carter gives this example as to how integrity is close to honesty but at the same time not quite. A Carter’s mother use to say, “You don’t have to tell people everything you know” know that a person can be honest but not have integrity which only makes honesty worth
The American government used to be able to keep the people in happy ignorance to the fact that they watch every move they make. After certain revelations of people like Edward Snowden, the public knows the extent of the government spying. On June 5, 2013 Edward Snowden leaked documents of the NSA to the Guardian (The Guardian 2). The whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed to the world how the American government collects information like cell phone metadata, Internet history, emails, location from phones, and more. President Obama labeled the man a traitor because he showed the world the illegal acts the NSA performs on US citizens (Service of Snowden 1). The government breached the people’s security, and now the people are afraid because everyone is aware of how the US disapproves of people who do not agree with their programs. Obama said that these programs find information about terrorists living in the US, but he has lit...
Authors often use their works as a way to express their own opinions and ideologies. However, it is the skill of the author that determines whether these ideas are combined with the plot seamlessly, making a creative transition of ideas from the author’s mind, to the reader’s. There is no doubt that George Orwell is a masterful writer, and one of his most popular works, 1984, clearly expresses his negative views of the Totalitarian government. A common theme in the dystopian society in 1984 is betrayal: The Party is very intolerant towards any form of disloyalty, and anyone who plots against them or Big Brother will eventually either betray their own mind and accept Big Brother as their leader, or be betrayed and revealed to The Party by one of their so-called comrades. Overall, Orwell is using this constant theme of betrayal to show how alone and alienated the protagonist (Winston Smith) is in his quest against Totalitarianism, thus showing how flawed and hopeless the political system is.
Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.
It is reasonable to argue that, governmental institutions or people with authority are subject to withhold a great deal of information from society. Many may argue that secrets are kept to ensure the safety of the nation. Thus, upholding the governmental duty of protecting the nation against possible threats. On the other hand, many believe that secrets may exist which violate our constitutional rights. Over the last year, Edward Snowden, has made headline news for leaking sensitive governmental information to the press. Edward Snowden is a 29-year-old high school drop-out, who was a tech specialist for the National Security Association. Snowden had discovered and later exposed the NSA for monitoring the nations e-mails, phone calls, and internet searches. As the allegations spread like wild fire, Edward Snowden sought asylum in Russia for one year. Snowden had a valid and justifiable reason to expose the NSA to the world because they were in violation of our fourth Amendment rights to unreasonable searches and seizures. The government called him a traitor, while others viewed him as a hero for exposing the government. Edward Snowden is a whistle blower because he felt that it is up to society to decide if governmental practices are just or unjust. Snowden does “express the highest respect for the law”, and he wanted to protect the right of privacy for American citizens.