Sacrified his life? Please stop. He merely leaked classified data and sold pieces of it here and there. He is basically living the life of a celebrity right now yet dramafies his existence.
He hasn't sacrificed his life in the sense that he's dead, but he has sacrificed it in the sense that he left behind the quite comfortable life he had back home. And if he gets extradited, who knows what kind of punishment he'd receive.
He was willing to risk his liberty and possibly his life for his country. That makes him a hero by any reasonable definition.
I wish I could say something in defense to all of you Snowden-zealots who would kiss his feet when in eyesight - but I am affraid of getting karma-killed again.
Sick burn, it's almost as if you're acting like you're on a website that doesn't value productive discourse over petty, childish, condescending feces-slinging
Exactly, he's living in hiding. Osama Bin Laden had to do the same, but for actually committing terrible crimes. Hardly the same magnitude and hardly living the life of a celebrity.
He is publicly available for theguardian journalists 24/7 to reply on current matters so you can assume the USA can pinpoint his exact location with precise accuracy. Unless you think the USA didn't know where Osama was either untill they did their raid?
HN folks. I think ck2's response and pearjuice's response are both inaccurate as they represent an extreme view. It might be useful to read about celebratory and the attractions and psyche of those that are drawn to it. Many of you here share Snowden's feelings but none of you did what he did. Was it simply his sense of justice that made him do this? Or something more? If he'd stayed in the US and immediately faced the music it would be much more apparent that he's a true hero willing to sacrifice everything for his beliefs. Once he plotted the whole thing and moved to a safe place before releasing it and has looked to avoid any punishment for his actions by trying to get to or stay in safe countries it's apparent that it's not a black and white case. So I don't understand why ck2's kind of dreamy eyed quote is treated differently to anovikov and pearjuice who are in downvote hell. The answer is Snowden is neither hero nor vilan.
I don't worship Snowden at all or see him as celebrity. If anything I wish there was 100% more attention on the information he brought to light instead of him.
I merely recognize his extreme sacrifice and thank him for it.
If we are supposed to thank the people who ran and signed up for the military to invade Iraq and empowered the insanity of the last administration, we most certainly can thank Snowden for showing us that not only has the insanity not stopped, it may have gotten far worse.
Well ck2 it certainly reads like something close to worship. "How is it possible for him to be inspired any further?" "Sacrificed his life" "He can't be inspired, he is the inspirer" That's pretty strong stuff.
> If he'd stayed in the US and immediately faced the music it would be much more apparent that he's a true hero willing to sacrifice everything for his beliefs. Once he plotted the whole thing and moved to a safe place before releasing it and has looked to avoid any punishment for his actions...
That is an unreasonable standard. I guess Gen. Douglas McArthur should have stayed and faced the Japanese in the Philippines?
Why would hero status require being stupid about your situation?
I think when you look at "heroes" in history they stayed to fight for their cause vs runaway. I'm trying to imagine how effective Ghandi, MLK, Nelson Mandela or Rosa Parks would have been from Venezuela.
Did you just ignore my example hero? Staying and fighting might make sense, but there are also times where it means you are less likely to get your story out. Getting locked in solitary confinement with no access to the outside media is probably the stupidest way for him to get his message out.
He didn't avoid punishment by leaving the country. He almost certainly avoided torture (see the treatment Bradley Manning has received for an example). That makes this a whole different ballgame. He's a political refugee and yes, he is a hero for what he gave up.
