When (repeated) lying is tolerated in official positions and to official organs of the state, the whole nation itself is in grave danger. In this case, the whole world is in grave danger.
When you couple the most powerful military in the world with a system of absolute un-accountability - as we're seeing with officials lying to congress to no redress - there is certainly a massive issue not just for Americans but for the entire world.
But then, one must ask, how much of it is acceptance undermined by a sheer feeling of dis-empowerment? It's easier to pretend everything is right, and that Snowden is a traitor, than trying to tackle the issues highlighted through the means we're given.
Reminds me of 1984, where lies are called truth and truths are called lies.
It's also very disappointing that, for quite some time, Snowden was labeled a "traitor". Even now, although the polls are showing that the majority of Americans surveyed state he is a whistleblower and not a traitor, that what he did was bad for, or an action against, America.
If what Snowden has said is true regarding the level of access he had when working in the CIA, then it is absolute proof, if any more is ever needed, that his actions were taken in the interest of the public and not himself, and especially not against America.
It's likewise very disappointing how little has come about as a result of what was shown by his leaks through the Guardian.
choosing to give up your agency to do something about these problems is one of the reasons they persist. people think we can't do anything about all of the bad things we see in the world, but we really can.
courage is contagious.
If only people didn't discard morals at the first sight of power and money.
Having said all that, I would encourage more people to talk to their representatives regarding these issues. It goes without saying that unless the people have a voice then their desires won't be heard.
I can't emphasis this enough. The trouble is, that far to many people stand by and are silent.
If a significant portion of the representative's constituency sends letters and the net political effect overcomes the amount of donations the representative gets from intelligence companies, maybe they will actually begin an initiative for policy change. Everyone is better off, but it's hard to convince a critical mass of people that think it will succeed.
[1] http://raikoth.net/libertarian.html#coordination_problems
We've demonstrated pretty well throughout history that humans when aggregated into large groups are basically incompetent- especially when power and money are involved.
Also, there always comes a point in government where a certain level of information must remain secret (such as spy activity between states and within criminal organisations). If we were to force government transparency, I think we would see a marked rise in stonewalling due to 'national security' - the phrase itself is so general that anything could be under it's wing.