Many people including President Obama have said that what Edward Snowden did was wrong because he should have complained to his managers before going public. Well he did. Ten times. And he was ignored ten times. He could have sat back and let this evil continue. He could have complained an eleventh time and then a twelfth time…and eventually a two hundredth time, but it would have never made a difference.
So, rather than sitting back and doing nothing, he came forward with what he knew. He defended his country against an egregious abuse of authority committed by the State–and for that he is a hero. He risked his life by single-handedly standing up to the most powerful government in the history of the world and telling the world that what was happening was not right.
John Stuart Mill once said “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” Well, Edward Snowden looked on, but had the courage to not do nothing.
