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I am Spartacus The role of public acceptance of responsibility and punishment in civil-disobedience

The recent case of Edward Snowden has inspired many debates on the role ofwhistleblowers and state intelligence gathering facilities in a 21st century world. The debatehas been multifaceted as it has not only centred around the revelations of Snowdenconcerning the US National Security Agencey (NSA) and its British counterpart: GovernmentCommunications Headquarters (GCHQ), but it has involved debate on the role of awhistleblower and whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor.

In this paper I wish to focus on the actions of Edward Snowden and his actions concerningthe method of release of the information and his flight from the hands of US justiceauthorities. As by way of a recap let us look at how the story initially broke. On 6th June 2013The Guardian Newspaper reported that the NSA was collecting phone records of UScitizens1Within three days Edward Snowden was named as the source of the leaks and wasreported to be in Hong Kong. Since that time more information concerning both British andUS intelligence gathering methods has been publicly released and Edward Snowden hasreceived asylum in Russia (one year licence2).

There are perhaps two things that mark this case out from previous security leaks. Firstly thewhistle blower reasonably quickly came out publicly and declared that they were the sourceof the information. Snowdens actions were in stark contrast to other high-profile whistleblowers who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. Secondly, Snowden fledthe USA and went to two of its key rivals. In earlier years this would have been known asdefecting, but in our modern mono-polar world it takes on a more complex character.Snowden did not release the information for ideological reasons as would possibly havebeen the case were it during the cold war, nor was he inspired by financial gains but ratherhe believes that governments should not hold /gather large quantities of information.

Edward Snowden therefore represents a new breed of whistle blower3. However, for now letus concentrate on Snowdens decision to leave US jurisdiction and its implications for him asan instigator of civil disobedience. Within western culture one of the earliest examples of civildisobedience can be in the life and death of Socrates. In Platos book Crito4 we hearSocratess argument against flight from prison and the death penalty (Plato):

Soc. Then consider the matter in this way: Imagine that I am about to play truant (you maycall the proceeding by any name which you like), and the laws and the government come andinterrogate me: "Tell us, Socrates," they say; "what are you about? are you going by an act ofyours to overturn us- the laws and the whole State, as far as in you lies? Do you imagine thata State can subsist and not be overthrown, in which the decisions of law have no power, butare set aside and overthrown by individuals?" What will be our answer, Crito, to these and thelike words? Anyone, and especially a clever rhetorician, will have a good deal to urge aboutthe evil of setting aside the law which requires a sentence to be carried out; and we mightreply, "Yes; but the State has injured us and given an unjust sentence." Suppose I say that?

Socrates argues that while living in a state a citizen makes a contract with that sate andagrees to abide by the laws. If a citizen does not agree with the actions of the executivebranch then they can commit civil disobedience, yet they must accept the repercussions aslaid out in the laws of the sate. Failure to accept the repercussions makes a mockery of thelaws and thus contradicts the contract agreed between the citizen and the state and put inforce by the citizens continued residence in the state (up until the incident in question)(Plato5):

1 See http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-orderaccessed 24.8.13

2 See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23768248accessed 24.8.133 See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339268/Edward-Snowden-IT-geek-Americas-

wanted.html accessed 24.8.134 See http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.htmlaccessed 24.8.135 Ibid

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-orderhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23768248http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23768248http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339268/Edward-Snowden-IT-geek-Americas-wanted.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339268/Edward-Snowden-IT-geek-Americas-wanted.htmlhttp://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.htmlhttp://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.htmlhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-orderhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23768248http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339268/Edward-Snowden-IT-geek-Americas-wanted.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339268/Edward-Snowden-IT-geek-Americas-wanted.htmlhttp://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html

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For, after having brought you into the world, and nurtured and educated you, and given youand every other citizen a share in every good that we had to give, we further proclaim andgive the right to every Athenian, that if he does not like us when he has come of age and hasseen the ways of the city, and made our acquaintance, he may go where he pleases and takehis goods with him; and none of us laws will forbid him or interfere with him.

Socretess argument develops a concept which over two thousand years later was deployedby Mohandas K Gandhi when confronting the might of the British Empire in India. AlthoughGhandi was in many respects fighting the British Government, he nevertheless accepted thelegal implications of his action. Ghandi in fact spent a lot of time in prison6 pleading guilty tohis charges. This acceptance of guilt and failure to flee is in fact what determines the trueeffectiveness of civil disobedience. Were, for example, Rosa Parks7 to have left the busbefore the police arrived then no doubt the story of civil rights in the USA would have beenvery different.

This element of public accountability is sadly what is missing in Edward Snowdens case.Snowdens case has been often compared to that of Bradley Manning8 with the strikingdifference being the arrest and conviction of Manning. While Snowden remains outside ofUS law his claim of fighting for democracy is at best limited.

6 Seehttp://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2024558_2024522_2024456,00.html

accessed 24.8.137 See http://www.ushistory.org/us/54b.asp accessed 24.8.138 See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23784288accessed 24.8.13

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2024558_2024522_2024456,00.htmlhttp://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2024558_2024522_2024456,00.htmlhttp://www.ushistory.org/us/54b.asphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23784288http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23784288http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2024558_2024522_2024456,00.htmlhttp://www.ushistory.org/us/54b.asphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23784288