Snowden alone in calling out Empire as naked, things can come crashing down quicker than you think
Snowden alone in calling out Empire as naked
Rick Falkvinge is the founder of the first Pirate Party and campaigns for sensible information policy.
Published time: June 27, 2013 10:11
...
Most people in the United States aren't aware that their country is acting like their hated high school bully to most of the rest of the world. The few who do tend to take it with humor: bumper stickers have been seen satirizing this as "Be nice to America, or we'll bring democracy to your country", playing on the media spin that every war of aggression to maintain Pax Americana is about "bringing democracy" somewhere.
So when one man, Edward Snowden, reveals to the world that the Empire stands naked and that it really has been behaving like a bully, wiretapping everybody wholesale, there are shockwaves. But that's where the similarities with the folklore tale ends. Where the naked emperor cringed and realized the game was up, the naked Empire instead chooses to keep rewarding sucking up, pretending that nothing has been revealed at all, and to punish the whistleblower at all costs as a warning to others.
...
Take Microsoft software as an important example. As part of the NSA unravelings, it was uncovered that Microsoft gives security holes to the National Security Agency for exploiting before it sends out security repair patches to its users and customers - essentially betraying the trust of every customer worldwide, and making sure that no government, corporation, or media outlet can ever trust Microsoft products again: for Microsoft gave the master key to every customers' operations to the NSA.
Without Snowden setting the ball rolling, we would not have known this, and we would continue to have been owned - in the hacker and literal sense of the word - by the United States. Now, we can at least see that any Microsoft-developed software, and probably any closed US-developed software, is a huge security risk that no nation outside the United States can afford to take.
...
If the doubts in creditworthiness take hold, things can come crashing down quicker than you would expect.
...
http://rt.com/op-edge/snowden-us-secrets-truth-317/
Great article.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Take Microsoft software as an important example. As part of the NSA unravelings, it was uncovered that Microsoft gives security holes to the National Security Agency for exploiting before it sends out security repair patches to its users and customers - essentially betraying the trust of every customer worldwide, and making sure that no government, corporation, or media outlet can ever trust Microsoft products again: for Microsoft gave the master key to every customers' operations to the NSA.
How can anyone NOT see this as betrayal?
oh well, everything's OK then 
um........................................really? 
Sorry, the NSA doesn't have much cred in this direction you're trying to argue.
binney, wiebe, drake and others have all spoken out.
I have to say, I find this article disingenuous and it reads too much like straight out propaganda for me.
I wish the world knew that there are so many Americans who are just as appalled and aren't yawning this away. Or that quite a few other whistleblowers had come forward but I forgive them for not knowing because, even in our country, few average people knew.
I understand why it could seem disingenuous, I find it very honest for its expression of how many foreigners are viewing this and a reaction we should at least note. Our country has an attitude of "let's forget and move on" every 4-8 years, like in the case of Guatemala where 250,000 innocent people were murdered for US policy, or the wars we pushed on the world.
I had the same reaction you did and almost tweeted back, "he's not standing alone* lol.
This could come straight from the black heart of Orange County, CA.
Or any random CNN money show.
Hark and forsooth! The empire be naked!
