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The
public needs to know the kinds of things a government does
in its name, or the 'consent of the governed' is meaningless...
The consent of the governed is not consent if it is not
informed.
I
can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy
privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people
around the world with this massive surveillance machine
they're secretly building.
I grew up with the understanding that the world I lived
in was one where people enjoyed a sort of freedom to communicate
with each other in privacy, without it being monitored,
without it being measured or analyzed or sort of judged
by these shadowy figures or systems, any time they mention
anything that travels across public lines.
There can be no faith in government if our highest offices
are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example
of transparency.
I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed
to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest.
There are all sorts of documents that would have made a
big impact that I didn't turn over, because harming people
isn't my goal. Transparency is.
My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which
is done in their name and that which is done against them.
The immoral cannot be made moral through the use of secret
law.
Citizens with a conscience are not going to ignore wrong-doing
simply because they'll be destroyed for it: the conscience
forbids it.
All
I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in
how they are governed. That is a milestone we left a long
time ago.
America is a fundamentally good country. We have good people
with good values who want to do the right thing. But the
structures of power that exist are working to their own
ends to extend their capability at the expense of the freedom
of all publics.
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