Jerrod Goertzen
Soc 122
5/14/14
The video discusses the leaks on the US government by Snowden. The grueling and dangerous task being a whistle blower and how it had destroyed his life and others that helped him. I think the video brings up a good point about the US government making itself stronger unilaterally, giving itself more power over the citizens with out any consent or warning. This is something to be afraid of, now that the story is released we can see the measures the US government took to keep its secrets. When someone like Snowden risked his life by leaking out criminal and unjustified actions taking part within the NSA and other secretive agencies. This is not the first time of an event like this being leaked, and it wont be the last. Our government will always be looking for ways to achieve more power nationally and globally. So when do we say enough is enough, when we know it is happening. The government takes away power and it seems most of the time we don't even realize it until it is too late. There needs to be protections in place for people willing to take a stand whether they be a worker like Snowden that looks to do the right thing, a report, talk show host etc. We can only claim what little we have left on our 1st Amendment rights, even that has been weakened as the government ties it up in court with doctored up documents by lawyers and legality issues. We can't fully speak our minds, report suspecting information or keep tabs on our government like they do with us (breaking our rights of privacy) without it seems being labeled and treated as a criminal and traitor.
The second video much like the first discusses Snowden, but under a light of why he chose to become a whistle blower. Simply put is that once he got jobs and clearance as a cyber operative, he saw the threat and power the US government posed not too the world but its own people. Described being able to easily see drone feeds on foreign land that would pick up everyone in the area, what they were doing, who they were and so on. Not only this but there was talks about secretly infecting computers with a malware type program that would allow them to see everything that you do on your computer. Every email, internet search, any chats or videos, they could literally watch you type out every key stroke you made if they wanted too. Snowden saw a huge threat in this and criminal injustice that he felt needed to be known by the general population. It has also been clear as the video states, that the US government during this time lied about many things and even attempted to debunk Snowden as a nobody when all evidence pointed to the contrary. The US government was as the saying goes, caught with their hand in cookie jar and merely trying to save face. While the government claims to have never done these things and that their are laws, regulations and fail safes in place against these kinds of acts, they are really enforced as it would seem. There is no real oversight on secret agencies like the NSA.
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