{"id":405,"date":"2013-07-03T12:27:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-03T10:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/?p=405"},"modified":"2015-07-23T18:23:01","modified_gmt":"2015-07-23T16:23:01","slug":"the-snowden-paradox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/the-snowden-paradox\/","title":{"rendered":"The Snowden paradox"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A few weeks ago, Edward Snowden, a former <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a00f2\">contractor<\/span> for America&#8217;s National Security Agency (NSA), revealed through <i>The Guardian<\/i> and <a title=\"How the NSA Targets Germany and Europe (Der Spiegel)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/international\/world\/secret-documents-nsa-targeted-germany-and-eu-buildings-a-908609.html\" target=\"_blank\"><i>Der Spiegel<\/i><\/a> that the US government has been keeping secret records on ordinary Americans and spying on its allies. Since then, I&#8217;ve been asked two questions <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a04d8\">over and over<\/span>: 1. What&#8217;s your opinion of what Edward Snowden did? and 2. Do you know where he is?<\/p>\n<p>The second question has a simple answer: no. Edward Snowden, it seems, has followed Monty Python&#8217;s example and learned how not to be seen.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zekiZYSVdeQ?rel=0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The first question is difficult to answer, because it involves a paradox, or several.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Edward Snowden broke the law. Lawbreakers are to be punished.<br \/>\nBUT<br \/>\nEdward Snowden is a whistleblower. Whistleblowers are to be protected.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Edward Snowden is working against the United States by revealing information that was secret.<br \/>\nBUT<br \/>\nEdward Snowden is working for the United States by creating transparency, which is necessary for the <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a08be\">rule of law<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 A free society respects the rule of law. The highest law of the land is the constitution. The US constitution guarantees a right to privacy.<br \/>\nBUT<br \/>\nNSA <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a0ca7\">surveillance<\/span> <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a10b7\">undermines<\/span> privacy and freedom. Therefore the rule of law <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a1479\">does not apply<\/span>. Edward Snowden cannot have broken laws that are not supposed to exist.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 If Edward Snowden revealed this information about Russia or China, the West would support him. If he were an investigative journalist, it would tolerate him.<br \/>\nBUT<br \/>\nHe revealed this information about the United States, and he is not a journalist.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Edward Snowden is fighting for a free society.<br \/>\nBUT<br \/>\nSocieties that are not free are the ones protecting him.<\/p>\n<p>And so on.<\/p>\n<p>A paradox is a powerful thing. As Captain Kirk taught us, it can shut down a <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a185e\">malevolent<\/span> android <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a1c47\">in seconds flat<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZuYbDP2kDfg?rel=0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">From <i>Star Trek<\/i> (the original series): &#8220;I, Mudd&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Snowden paradox is a form of the Robin Hood paradox. By stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, Robin Hood served a <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a202c\">greater good<\/span> \u2014 a natural law, if you will \u2014 but his actions made him a criminal.<\/p>\n<p>There are ways to <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a2425\">resolve<\/span> such paradoxes. For example, one side does not have to be wrong and the other right; both can be wrong. <a title=\"Why did my parents cross the road? (Mike Pilewski)\" href=\"\/blog\/why-did-my-parents-cross-the-road\" target=\"_blank\">It is also possible<\/a> for two sides to both be right.<\/p>\n<p>Another way to resolve a paradox is to <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a27ff\">challenge<\/span> one or all of the <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a2be9\">assumptions<\/span> on which an argument is based \u2014 or to declare any or all of them to be irrelevant. This would seem to be the case with Snowden.<\/p>\n<div class=\"simplePullQuote right\"><p>The NSA has been collecting Americans&#8217; phone records for ten years<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>You see, Snowden&#8217;s <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a2fce\">revelations<\/span> aren&#8217;t new. The NSA has been collecting Americans&#8217; phone records for ten years. A whistleblower at the phone company AT&amp;T <a title=\"Wiretap Whistle-Blower's Account (Wired)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wired.com\/science\/discoveries\/news\/2006\/04\/70621\" target=\"_blank\">discovered<\/a> the NSA doing this in 2006. The Electronic Frontier Foundation <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a33b3\">sued<\/span> AT&amp;T, but the <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a37a5\">case<\/span> was <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a3b86\">dismissed<\/span> <a title=\"Room 641A (Wikipedia)\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Room_641A\" target=\"_blank\">in 2011<\/a> when Congress gave the phone companies <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a3f6b\">retroactive<\/span> immunity for their <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a4350\">complicity<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Personal information on every American was collected in a 2002 Defense Department program originally called <a title=\"Total Information Awareness (Wikipedia)\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Total_Information_Awareness\" target=\"_blank\">Total Information Awareness<\/a>. Public opposition shut down parts of the program, but the collection of phone records is one aspect that remains in place.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been revealed <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a4740\">time and again<\/span> that the US government wants to read all the e-mail sent by everybody in the entire world, and listen to all phone calls made between US and foreign numbers. The name and design of the software changes every few years; one such program, first used in 1997, was called <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a4b26\">Carnivore<\/span>. The Internet service providers complained about the extra work they&#8217;d have to do to <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a4f10\">intercept<\/span> and <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a5304\">store<\/span> the data, but were talked into complying.<\/p>\n<p>The US has been spying on its allies for decades. Look up <a title=\"ECHELON (Wikipedia)\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/ECHELON\" target=\"_blank\">ECHELON<\/a>. Look up the US <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a56dc\">wiretaps<\/span> of <a title=\"Where are they now? (Mike Pilewski for the Spotlight team)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.spotlight-online.de\/blogs\/the-spotlight-team\/where-are-they-now\" target=\"_blank\">UN Security Council members<\/a> <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a5acb\">prior to<\/span> the Iraq War.<\/p>\n<p>The Foreign <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a5eb4\">Intelligence<\/span> Surveillance Act (FISA) court, which <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a6293\">grants<\/span> <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a667c\">warrants<\/span> for secret wiretaps, not just of foreigners, was established in 1978.<\/p>\n<p>Banks, credit-card companies and American-based websites such as Facebook explicitly tell European customers that their data or a copy of it is being stored in the United States and may be given to government officials at any time.<\/p>\n<p>None of this is new. Mr. Snowden, paradox or not, you&#8217;re <span id=\"tooltip551e6a34a6a64\">off the hook<\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few weeks ago, Edward Snowden, a former contractor for America&#8217;s National Security Agency (NSA), revealed through The Guardian and Der Spiegel that the US government has been keeping secret records on ordinary Americans and spying on its allies. Since then, I&#8217;ve been asked two questions over and over: 1. What&#8217;s your opinion of what Edward Snowden did? and 2. <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/the-snowden-paradox\/\">&#8230; >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,42],"tags":[170,168,32,167,154,171,172],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1796,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions\/1796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}