By Christopher DeMarcus (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: February 19, 2014
NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by two Norwegian politicians.
Norway has been in the press a lot lately for getting socialist government right: their national childcare, the salary caps for CEOs, the billions of dollars saved from oil and gas exploration, and their prisons being known as some of the best in the world, with a re-offence rate of only 20 per cent.
But are the Norwegian politicians — Baard Vegar Solhjell and Snorre Valen of the socially left party — right to say that Snowden’s reveal of the NSA’s domestic spying program has “contributed to a more stable and peaceful world order?”
There is no evidence to suggest we are now in a more-or-less peaceful and orderly world than we were last year because of Snowden. The people’s champion hasn’t made peace; he’s done something greater — told the truth.
Snowden is a hero, but he’s not a peacemaker. He pulled back the wizard’s curtain for a moment, finally affirming what geeks have been saying for years: the government is good at spying on you.
After all, Time magazine chose “You” as the person of the year back in 2006 — so it must be you they’re after.
We should be honest with ourselves. We always knew “big brother” was watching. We probably feel safer with someone watching us rather than with no one watching us. Governments have come to replace religion as the “big other.” God is no longer watching, but you can bet the cops can see all the naughty things you do over Snapchat and into that secret folder on your hard drive.
What Snowden told us is what we wanted to hear. Someone, somewhere, is out there looking at you. The NSA, CSIS, or CSEC is the 12th man of our digital lives.
Isn’t that why we post all of our garbage online — so someone will read it, like it, or share it?
Perhaps the post-office should write a thank you letter to the whistle-blower; snail mail has become the new reliable way to transmit data. And who knows, maybe typewriters will make a comeback among radical activists. Back in July, Foreign Policy reported that the Kremlin is going to switch to typewriters to avoid security leaks.
Snowden needs a journalism award, a Pulitzer prize, not the Nobel Peace Prize.
After all, the Nobel was the award that was given to President Obama while he was dropping bombs on Libya and ordering drone attacks on U.S. citizens in Yemen.
We could give the Nobel to the three-year-old boy who was shot in a Chicago public park back in September, or posthumously to 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton — known for performing at President Obama’s inauguration. He was shot and killed in Chicago last January. Both shootings were gang related.
Peace prizes should be given to children that have been forced, without choice, to stop bullets with their bodies. Sometimes we forget war is something much more than a PowerPoint presentation or someone snooping around in your favourite social network’s underwear drawer.
