I think the most interesting part of all the drama surrounding whistleblowing nowadays is the difference in perception of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. Almost every person I have spoken with has said they regard Snowden as a hero and Manning as a traitor (I also only talked to like 15 people and only in the span of the last 12 hours). Regardless, I didn't understand why.
Before I did some deep critical thinking and insightful observing, their actions seemed identical to me.
"Uh... leaking information... and leaking information... Is that not the same?"
But that isn't really the case. When comparing the leaked documents from both disclosures, it's easy to see one key difference: American government acting on America versus American government acting on foreign countries.
I think this brings up a few things.
First, I think it is very easy to be hypocritical in controversy. "Sure, it's okay for that thing to happen to them, as long as it doesn't happen to me." This happens all the time, everywhere, but it seems to me like it happens more often in controversy. "Sure, it's okay to spy on the people of foreign countries, as long as it doesn't happen to us." And oftentimes, the hypocrisy is an afterthought. We don't even consider the repercussions of what would happen if the tables were turned until we realize the tables were turned all along. Humans are selfish creatures, I don't really think that's a problem that we have the ability to solve. But I do think that it is a factor in the perceptions of Snowden as a hero and Manning as a traitor.
Second, privacy is less political than war. I think it is easier to gather support from both sides of the political spectrum on privacy, rather than the age-old disagreement over war. You have more people with similar opinions on something controversial? It's less controversial. I don't think Manning was as lucky as Snowden in that regard, unfortunately.
So, how do I feel about Manning's decision to leak? Meh. I'm pretty neutral on those types of things. I do think that whistleblowing shouldn't ensue the same consequences as espionage, because those are two vastly different things. The US government is corrupt and always will be, we all know that. Once again, there isn't much we can do about it. Humans suck at making good decisions. But we shouldn't punish people for just pointing out the obvious.
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