There does exist a strong privacy movement that replicates 99% of tech products that mainstream tech companies provide. I think part of the momentum can definitely be attributed to Snowden’s revelations.
Comment on Do you think that Edward Snowden is a hero?
Manticore@lemmy.nz 20 hours ago
‘Hero’ is a term of social worship for those that enact change.
Do I think he did a moral act that aligned with his principles, motivated by compassion for others? Do he forsee what it would cost him and did it anyway because he believed it was the right thing to do, no matter how hard? Yes, and yes.
But he’d only be a ‘hero’ if anybody actually cared enough to do anything about it, making him a symbol of social change that people would be grateful for him instigating.
Instead, he falls victim to the same traps as those who self-immolate outside building to make a point: a sacrifical spectacle of sacrifice, exchanged for confused apathy from those he claimed to stand for.
That really sucks. He was trying to make a real difference. He had to flee his home forever, because of the cost of him trying to save it.
majster@lemmy.zip 7 hours ago
Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 hours ago
I think you are being pedantic. If you went in risking your life to rescue a puppy from a burning house but the puppy doesn’t make it because of the fumes or you jump on a robber but he kills and leaves with the money anyway, do you stop being a hero because you failed to enact change? That’s ridiculous.
Manticore@lemmy.nz 12 hours ago
I think the difference in your hypothetical is that people would care that he tried. But inventing a scenario to put words in the mouth of a stranger has no relevance to the reality I’m commenting on.
Think of me as you wish. I answered your question in good faith. That should be good enough.
I don’t personally believe in ‘heroes’ and ‘villians’. I think it’s a very rudimentary way to view the world, as if through the lens of a storybook. We have deeply corrupt and selfish people causing harm, we have considerate and compassionate people fighting for their principles. Most people are some measure of both.
Reducing people to Hero and Villain frequently excuses us any responsibility of self-reflection, as we can simply call ourselves ‘Good’ and justify unethical acts in the name of Goodness.
If you believe that Hero is an objective trait one can achieve, but that social approval is not how one achieves it, we have very different views on humanity and ethics.
Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 hours ago
I wouldn’t imagine that OP meant the question as Snowden being permanently labeled a hero for all of his life actions, nor should anyone ever be labeled as such. We are judging a specific action he took many years ago and also in a context of people generally labeling his action as good or bad since then. We are also not talking about comic book characters that are consistently one way or another through all of their actions. We can agree that a convicted felon can be heroic and a puppy loving doctor can do villainous shit as well depending on circumstance, opportunity and personal moral beliefs.
But for this specific action of exposing a terrible truth and essentially losing his way of life and being forced to live as a refugee, I don’t think we should get into the pendatry of what a hero in theory is or if his action led to any actual change. Being suppressed by forces with way more weight than you doesn’t eliminate whatever label your actions deserve.
Manticore@lemmy.nz 4 hours ago
Sure, it sounds like he has your approval, and the approval of people in the privacy movement, who would use the term Hero. I accept that.
As for what the word ‘hero’ means to you, and weather I value the same things, then the answer is yes:
…I just don’t use the word ‘hero’ to describe this. The word has become a simplified symbol to me, and if anything, feels less powerful than acknowledging the real sacrifice he made in the name of his principles.
Without acknowledging that nuance, ‘Hero’ apparently puts him in the same category as housefire-puppy-rescuers, and what he did was much more considered.