The NSA Leak: A Lesson In Human Nature, Opportunistic Behavior, and Altruism's Levee

Almost overnight, Edward Snowden went from being a former NSA computer technician to civil libertarian demigod. Snowden, identified (with permission) by the UK newspaper The Guardian and The Washington Post as the informant that leaked information to the newspaper about the National Security Agency's surveillance programs of collecting records from phone and Internet companies, has been predominantly lauded for his actions. Snowden's actions are a prime lesson in human nature, the reality that we are all opportunists, and altruism's levees can and will always be subject to a breach.

The Guardian's Simon Jenkins in his praise of Snowden that "[t]he US and Britain today are as invulnerable to military conquest as ever in history" and writes that the Western counter-terrorism crusade has developed into a machine that undermines freedom by its relentless use of fear and paranoia. He's right, and this has been proven throughout history. When entities, countries rather, reach that proverbial zenith of power, they will attempt anything and everything to maintain the status quo that has entrenched itself with that assumed power. While we may be astonished at the means at which the United States is willing to do it, and by no means I am endorsing these tactics, it should really come as no surprise. The feeling of control is the antidote against paranoia, and this is true from government to our own personal lives. It's almost like a vicious cycle -- accumulate power and wealth, celebrate the success and benefits of it, become paranoid of it ending, then in response to that paranoia, attempt to alleviate it by trying to accumulate more power and wealth: all for it to repeat again. In a way, it's one seriously fucked up self-fulfilling prophecy.

My personal feelings on the War on Terror? This is not a conspiracy theory, this is just absolute, rock bottom truth: it's more than just a counter terrorism program, it's about doing anything and everything to maintain the United States' position in the scope of world politics. Campaigns to achieve and then maintain positioning is nothing new -- the European powers did it, ancient Asian empires did it, Hitler did it, Hirohito did it, and the United States is doing it as well. However, what has galvanized the public these days is the latest chapter of the information revolution -- leaks, or more specifically, how well we can acquire information that nobody would have really thought it would have been possible to acquire. In the end though, it is a testament to the fact that as human beings, we're opportunistic. As new discoveries are made in regards to how we can secure an advantage over one another, covert programs, whistleblowing leaks, and finding more ways to deepen how well we retain and hide information creates an even more complicated Rubik's cube. This isn't a battle of "good vs. evil", it has been, still is, and always will be a battle between who's more effective than who at achieving whatever desired goal is, whether it is emotional, mental, or ideological.

When it comes to supporting those in power, there's expectation among us that the clear majority of the decisions that are made by the powers that be would have a wide ranging affect would never breach the levee of altruism. Snowden too gambled on the same thing, noting in his interview with The Guardian that he  wanted to go public before, but held out hope that the then-incoming Obama administration would shift the NSA's aggressive tactics. However, the Obama administration has kept many of the Bush-era surveillance policies to his dismay, and now to the dismay of many. However, altruism's levees become subject to higher stakes -- it's either weakened or strengthened, and whatever way it leads, the response is to mobilize and establish control, through covert or public means.

In short, when I look at the NSA leak, I go beyond the relationship between the government and the governed. It's another exercise in the complexities of humanity, as we forge ahead in our epoch of existence, one new discovery at a time. So while I will continue spectate the the inane justification for this program by administration officials and the romanticized stand of solidarity and support of Snowden by many, I am ultimately going to wait to see the next great example of what lengths we're going to be willing to take as humanity to assume control of whatever we desire to frame into each of our worldviews.

Why I don't celebrate Black History Month -- Even Though I'm Black

We're getting in the middle of Black History Month, and once again we are treated to different visages of cultural ass-kissing -- yes, ass-kissing -- from various sources of the mainstream media. Of course, there's going to be some white conservatives out there that's going to circulate the infamous quotations of Morgan Freeman in his 60 Minutes interview from a few years back when he dispelled his support for Black History Month.

There's two reasons why I don't really like Black History Month: for one, I resent that it fosters the belief that we should only give a damn about black history only one month or a few weeks out of the entire year. In fact, I resent that same idea for all various demographic divisions that humanity has concocted for I am a strong believer that historical awareness should have no boundaries in length of time. History is a beautiful thing and it necessary to be consistently and constantly aware of it so that we have a greater understanding of the present and enhanced perspective as to what we think or hope for in the future.

The second part is the ass-kissing and I'm going to limit this part to this diatribe to only Black History Month even though it could be universally applied to any "Insert Demographic Here" History/Awareness/Only-Give-A-Damn-About-It-Right-Now Month. We're going to see numerous specials, numerous commercials, and schools are going to make numerous announcements in commemoration of black history, and then it's mostly quiet for an entire year afterward. What makes me more of upset that it is largely regurgitation only exploring household names with a little bit of a curtly nod to the less celebrated. We often talk of tirelessly of the work that Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X during Civil Rights Movement, but even during this month, we don't hear much of the work and sacrifice that W.E.B. du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Ralph Abernathy, James Baldwin, Clyde Kennard, James Meredith, Medgar Evers, Claudette Colvin, and others did during those turbulent years. You'll hear of Langston Hughes, a fine author in his own right, but why wait until college to hear about Ralph Ellison and August Wilson?

I understand the awareness which is mainly the purpose that Black History Month serves, and while that is a fair assessment, I still believe that the history of our people, both here in the United States and abroad, is worth way more than just 28 days (or 29 days in a leap year) of conscious groveling that will all but cease on the first of March.