When the power of the government penetrates every corner

Leonel 2022-01-09 08:02:04

When the Snowden case first started, I inadvertently came into contact with two similar cases: one was the private Bradley Manning Wiki leak case that was still under trial; the other was the "Pentagon Document" case triggered by Daniel Ellsberg in history. Ellsberg lived unharmed, Snowden received a short asylum for a year, and Manning is facing 20 to 136 years in prison. At that time, I felt very unfair, but my friend told me that Manning had leaked military secrets, which was intolerable in the military and might cause great harm to the country.

I do not know.

In every leak, people called the leaker a traitor and demanded punishment for "endangering national security." Most of them also violated the law, such as Manning, such as Snowden. If in accordance with the law, they are unquestionably punished. If Rachel, a female reporter in the movie, is charged with this crime, the prison term will definitely be longer than two years. She was fortunate enough to be sentenced for contempt of court in the end.

Socrates said in the "Crito" that no matter what judgment the country makes against you, you must execute and abide by it. This is an agreement between the law and the citizen. So Socrates went to death generously.

I can't understand.

Later, I came across the sentence an unjust law is no law at all. Unjust law is a dead letter. Regarding the relationship between the state, the law, and citizens, I agree more with St. Augustine’s words.

The government exists to manage the crowd, and the law exists to maintain justice. I have always understood it this way. Therefore, I believe that if the government violates the rights of the people, it is just to expose and condemn, and if the law cannot protect the rights of the people, it is just to be abolished or not obeyed. Thoreau refused to pay taxes because he opposed slavery and did not use voting rights. I think this is correct. "The only duty I have the right to undertake is to do what I think is right at all times." I once wondered if I was born in the age of slavery, would I have the courage to resist its existence. Fortunately, I don’t need to be whipped in handcuffs; unfortunately, slavery is nothing more than rhetoric, truth, fairness, violence, etc.

I am not disrespecting the security of the country. However, it is only possible that national security is threatened. We cannot restrict all actions because of the possible consequences. This is to condone the unrestricted expansion of government power. Even when Manning leaked most of the documents to WikiLeaks and might be used by the enemy, the judge finally ruled that “assisting the friendly forces” was not guilty. I believe this is the correct verdict. We have not seen national defense security threatened, but the images of soldiers shooting and killing innocent civilians and children are vivid. I don't care what psychology Snowden holds to leak secrets, but the government agencies' monitoring of the whole people is true and credible. As Rachel said, if the information they provide is valuable and trustworthy, then their motivation is not so important. The reality is often that individuals who oppose the government will hardly end up well, and being able to save their lives is the best result.

Everyone has an obligation to monitor the actions of those in power, regardless of whether they have signed certain so-called agreements, whether or not they have sworn certain statements, whether there are some unfair laws, doing the right thing is the most fundamental principle.

"If injustice is part of the friction that the government machine must produce, then let it go, let it go: maybe it will run in well. ── But there is no doubt that the machine will eventually wear out. If the unjust part has its own spring pulley, rope, or crank, then you may consider whether the result of the correction will be worse than the original fallacy; however, if the nature of the unjust part requires you to use it When the way of humans is still ruling others, then I said to ignore this law. Use your life as an anti-friction mechanism to stop this machine. What I have to do is, no matter what, make sure that I don’t do it for me. The fallacy spurned to serve."

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Extended Reading
  • Stanford 2022-03-19 09:01:06

    The ending! The ending! ! !

  • Karson 2022-03-21 09:02:43

    When the director revealed the mystery of the national security of the last person, to be honest, I was a little disappointed. I guessed that it might be her, but I think this is related to the theme the author wants to express, and it is worth thinking about!

Nothing But the Truth quotes

  • Rachel Armstrong: [Confronting Erica] I'm writing a story. I work for the National Desk okay, and it's gonna run tomorrow, and it's gonna say among other things that you are a CIA operative and that you went on a mission, a fact-finding mission to Venezuela.

  • Dubois: [Approaches Burnside after the court] This is a real honour for me. I studied you growing up, my dad was also a lawyer.