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A whistleblower that deserves protection is someone who alerts media or authorities about something dangerous within their organization within their legal rights to do so. Snowden was a clearance holding defense contractor who leaked classified information. 1/ https://twitter.com/kthalps/status/1294810194871046144
His actions put thousands of lives in danger. As a small cog in the defense and intelligence machine. He did not have the full picture or context of the information he had access to. 2/
To use a comparison from history, the ULTRA program that decoded Nazi German radio transmissions allowed the Allies to intercept many Nazi naval communications. 3/
The Allies had to be very selective about how they used this information, because had they begun stopping every u-boat from sinking every ship the Nazis would have known their code was broken. 4/
Had a low-level clearance holding person within the ULTRA program leaked information to the public that the Nazi code was broken because the Allies allowed a convoy to be sunk, knowing it could have been prevented, it could have cost the Allies the war. 5/
The events of 9/11 expanded government law enforcement and intelligence agencies authorities in many ways that overreach and endanger civil liberties. 6/
However, Snowden leaked information about technological capabilities of those intelligence agencies that was unknown to rival states, compromising their ability to surveil not only those states, but terrorist groups, organzied criminals, and other bad actors. 7/
No matter their capabilities, those agencies have neither the capacity to surveil all Americans nor a motivation to do so. Yes, potentially they can do some astonishing things, but they're too busy trying to stop people smuggling weapons or trying to blow things up. 8/
Snowden, a young man granted privileged access to information about how the technology worked and what it was capable of, lost his shit. 9/
You could potentially attribute China's later rolling up our entire human intelligence network in their country to the setbacks caused by Snowdens actions. People disappeared, they are likely dead. 10/
You could potentially attribute Putin's rise to menace Europe with impunity to the setbacks caused by Snowden's actions. Putin now assasinates European citizens who threaten him with impunity on their own soil. 11/
I do not agree with how much of the foreign policy over the last 70 years has been conducted, particularly over the last 20 years. But Snowden is not a hero. His actions have certainly many cost lives and tipped the balance of power toward totalitarian states and extremists. 12/
I am equally critical of how the US has treated its own citizens, but helping Russia and China expand their power and spheres of influence is bad, very bad. 13/
It's an unfortunate hair to split, but the fact is as unjust and brutal as our country is, Russia and China are worse. They unjustly teargas protesters in the US, they gun down, disappear, and execute them in Russia and China. 14/
We're teetering towards totalitarian in the US today, but part of that is because since Snowden's leaks Russia and China have been able to best our intelligence and counterintelligence efforts and wage very successful campaigns to internally destabilize the US. 15/
Whether or not you believe the US "deserves" to exist. If it collapses, millions, if not hundreds of millions, of ordinary Americans, including those of you who opposed our own systemic injustices, will die from starvation and violence. 16/
Whatever semantic games you want to play with words like "reform" or "abolition," a stabilized national government of some form is necessary to prevent mass death. Such chaos would certainly spread throughout the world, and quite probably trigger a world war. 17/
As I've said many times, I'm an anarchist. I won't launch into another diatribe about anarchist theory here. I believe humanity's destiny if it survives this current gaggle of ordeals is a stateless society of cooperating autonomous individuals. 18/
To survive climate change, and our current geopolitical upheavals, and build a global society free from oppression, we must do something akin to rebuilding the engines on a 747 while it's in flight. 19/
If you don't like jet engines so you simply cut the throttle and turn off the power at 35,000 feet ... you and everyone on board will die. 20/
What I fear, not more or less than Trump turning himself into a tin-pot dictator, is the under-informed and well intentioned mass of young radicals will opt for that course of action. 21/
We all want a better world, and it's possible, but bringing down the US government rapidly and in an uncontrollable manner will be a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. 22/
The protest movement has done a superhuman job of remaining peaceful in the face of ham-handed reactions from law enforcement and murderous attacks from right-wing terror groups, the latter enabled by the president himself. 23/
When that president complains about the "deep state," he's talking about the men and women across local, state, and federal government agencies who are risking life and limb to prevent this catastrophe. 23/
If they weren't doing what they're doing, you wouldn't be getting tear gassed and beaten, you'd be getting murdered, disappeared, and executed. 24/
It's a hugely complex and constantly shifting battle being played out at home and abroad, and the cost of failure could very easily make the consequences of global climate change look insignificant. Nobody survives a global nuclear exchange. 25/
I understand that much of the "rioting" has either been cops smashing things, exaggerating protester's actions to justify their own violence, or protestors lashing out after being brutalized. 26/
I don't think deliberate rioting and looting ultimate serves a productive purpose. It's understandable, even on its own even justified. But sweeping down-ballot offices, removing centrist and right-wing candidates from office, is a far more effective strategy. 27/
Applying both pressure to elected officials by threatening to vote them out of office, and proving you can do it and pressuring their corporate sponsors through protest and boycotts is effective. It's working.
I've gone on long enough. Try to see the bigger picture. Don't compromise for incrementalism, neoliberalism, or platitudes. We need massive fundamental change and we need it quickly. But be f$&king smart about it.
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