Unveiled! Portrait of American Truth Teller Edward Snowden

[Savannahmann]

61. Sad, truly sad that you misunderstand the world so completely.

How many spies did Gandhi need to bring the British to their knees? How many spies did MLK have when he ignited a generation and brought the question to the front of the national discussion? We have plenty of examples from history of people acting honorably, and many more of people acting dishonorably. Those rights we assert to spy and influence other Governments are why many in South America hate us so adamantly today. We refuse to turn our back on the same tried and failed efforts.

As long as we act like the bully boy, trying through intimidation, and threats, and even retaliation, we continue to be a uniting force. The uniting is the rest of the world uniting against us. We are not blessed by any deity merely because of our geographic birth place. We are blessed, or damned by our actions, and the motivations behind those actions.

We are rapidly becoming the next evil that the world will rise up against. It may not be the motivation behind our actions, but it is what the world sees.

Remember that The Buddha taught that there are three people in each of us. The one that others see, the one we see ourselves as, and that which we truly are. Do you know who we are as a nation? We are closer to the truth now, because of Snowden. We are revealed, and if we don't like the image that puts forth, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

A prediction for you to consider. Europe will be holding elections before long. I bet the spying of the Americans will be an issue, and I bet the politician that promises to be most diligent in protecting the people from American invasions of the privacy of the citizens will be the victor. If that happens, ask yourself if the ends justifies the means. If the end of our long alliance with Europe, South America, and Asia is worth the notional security that comes from reading other people's mail?

I was taught never to take an action I could not justify as moral, and honorable. We used to write that we were acting that way as a nation. It's a shame we ignore it now.

The ends never justify the means.