I don’t trust Edward Snowden, not by a long shot. But of course I respect him and admire. It takes an extraordinary personal courage to do what he did; to stand in front of the strongest empire in history and defy it.
To stand by your beliefs and to take such a huge step into the unknown as Mr. Snowden did, requires an absolute conviction in your ideals and requires depth – or folly – of integrity which very few people possess.
I have, as a software specialist, worked with many persons like Edward Snowden. Systems analysts, systems specialists, security specialists, and systems administrators.
I have also taught many software specialists, both beginners and professionals, the art of programming.
I have also managed projects in my field, I have managed a publication of a magazine, and I have often been involved with different groups of people with an agenda. By agenda I could mean anything from groups developing their spirituality, religious studies and religious activism and I have also worked as an educator and motivator.
Let’s just say that I have a lot of experience working with people.
I have quite an experience in writing, though my skill at composing text in english might not reflect that, as almost all my writing experience is so far in Icelandic. At last I have not only tutored public speaking, I’m considered by many to be very good at it, and I should given all the experience I’ve had.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIhS9aB-qgU
No systems analist by the age of twentynine is this skilled at speaking on camera, in an interview which he knows will be views globally, and no computer geek with the experience and background of this man would be this calm and this oratorial in questioning, or show the level of depth he shows, if he were what he says he is.
There is something else behind him which we’re not shown. Which should also remind us of something else. There is a general consensus that the global empire of the US might be in a beginning of a decline. If that is true, I don’t know, but I do know that behind the fall of any given empire there is another one rising.
Let us consider for a moment something extraordinary. Soon after Mr. Snowden defected as if he were a spy, he traveled through China to Russia. The only real contenders for a new global empiricism. Also something happened in the next few weeks; Russia outmanouvered the US in Syria. Less than a year later The West seemed on the verge of gaining considerable influence in Ukraine – now in february to april 2014 – yet again Russia seemed to be prepared.
What intelligence was taken from America to Russia when Mr. Snowden defected over there?
Does anyone remember how the Soviets developed their sleeping agents in the west? Does anyone remember the background of the current leader of Russia? Is anyone prepared to connect these dots? Is he a hero, or is Verax a very well trained and skilled agent?
I have not yet explored into what is known about his background or training. But I feel, every time I watch his interviews, and every time I take a look at how he did what he did, that there’s something there. That’s all.
All this being said; we should all have the moral discipline to take a stand for our beliefs. We should all have the courage to stand up for what we feel or believe to be right, and we should value ourselves more than we value our possessions or titles, not the least more than our entitlements.
For as I mentioned earlier, in all my experience with people, this is extremely rare. It is also very rare that a person gains such a worldvide attention in the media as happened last year. Is there a conspiracy, yes, that you can bet on. The question is what kind, and by whom?
Lastly I wish there were more of us like him, courageous enough to make a stand for other values than greed, silence, bystanding and selfish narrowmindedness.
