General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons - Snowden tweet today [View all]Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Snowden needs to disavow these people, even though that may be problematic for him.
"Ruining" one's life is not infallible evidence of noble purpose, sometimes it just indicates someone who's screwed up, lacks adequate judgement or protective instincts. Like, oh, say, Newtie or Assange, or way too many others who've achieved a prominence that is itself a symptom of society's lagging control of new problems that the information age presents.
And sometimes it suggests both. Like almost everyone else, Snowden likely had various motivations for what he did, when he was significantly younger also. He's no kid now, though, his stature and voice have grown to planetary influence, and he should live up to the challenges. Prison? Oh, well. Nelson Mandela lived up to what the world needed from him.