Peace is a controversial topic in and of itself. So when we come to the discussion of the greatest peacemakers of our time it is merely a matter of opinion. The peacemaker I chose was the controversial Edward Snowden. His stance in history of peace is arguable from all angles. What he did was at the risk of the safety of an entire nation. Although, he was only trying to show us who it is was we really needed to be safe from.
Born on June 21, 1983, Snowden’s place within our national security system and
government was destined from the start. Coming from a long line of government employees, his grandfather a senior official with the FBI, father an officer in the Coast Guard, his mother a clerk at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and his
sister a lawyer at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C., he had all the tools thrive in such a system. Just like his family Snowden found himself in the government workforce, as a Central Intelligence Agent assigned to the global communications
division.
Having a job of this status he saw firsthand just how intrusive our government could be. He witness the NSA’s reach and began to question the legality of the surveillance they were overseeing. In an interview with NBC News Snowden stated “…...concerns about the NSA’s interpretations of its legal authorities. I had raised these complaints not just officially in writing through email, but to my supervisors, to my colleagues, in more than one office”, after receiving an answer that basically told him to remain oblivious and continue doing his job, Snowden began to become weary. The different incidents like this, within his workplace, pushed him to take actions into his on hands, one’s that made him the controversial topic he is today.
The decision Snowden made to defy National Security and leak classified information
about government surveillance programs, this is what prompted him to be on this list of
peacemakers. Snowden knew that as a nation many of us put our blind trust into our government, and they were in turn taking advantage of it. Overstepping boundaries that even the NSA had no jurisdiction over and accessing private information that was merely none of their concern. In doing this he was basically a voice for the voiceless, he represented the few and unaware. That is what made him a peacemaker, his ability to bring justice, even against those whose sole purpose is to uphold it. For that I see him as an inspiration, his bravery was something extremely remarkable. Being someone who has seen what the inside of many institutions are like I wish I had his courage to expose them. He is one of the few of us that did, and no matter how
controversial his decision may be, I have to respect and appreciate the fact that he even made the decision.
Works Cited
“Edward Snowden.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden.
“Edward Snowden.”Biography.com, A&E Networks Television,
www.biography.com/people/edward–snowden–21262897