All the Wrong Questions

On a recent TED Talk that I saw, interviewer Chris Anderson spoke with Edward Snowden regarding Snowden's actions involving leaking NSA documents to the press. It is quite a long video, so I'll just point out the only part that truly stood out to me. Anderson asked Snowden, "You've been called many things in the last few months. You've been called a whistleblower, a traitor, a hero...what words would you use to describe yourself?" Snowden responded with this:

"Everybody who is involved with this debate has been struggling over me and my personality, and how to describe me. But when I think about it, this isn't the question we should be struggling with. Who I am really doesn't matter at all. If I'm the worst person in the world, you can hate me and move on. What really matters here are the issues. What really matters here is the kind of government we want. The kind of internet we want. The kind of relationship between people and society."

To me, this was one of the most powerful statements I had ever heard. So many people say that Snowden was a traitor that betrayed the government, but if you consider the other side, Snowden was only trying to help the people of the United States to gain back the privacy we are guaranteed in the Constitution. But people are so quick to judge him and look past the government and their role in these issues. By taking a step back and looking at the big picture, it's interesting to see that this whole situation has become solely about Snowden and his mistakes, when really it should be about what his actions meant and how he was only trying to help, and the government's role in this whole situation.

So many people are pointing fingers at Snowden and labeling him as either a hero or a traitor, but those things are not what matters, as Snowden had said. It's interesting to see that whenever something happens concerning society and how it is run, the people always try to shift the blame to someone else, and often forget about the true issues at hand.