Glenn Greenwald, one of the journalists Edward Snowden leaked classified documents to, posted a short passage on Snowden on GQ. It says that Snowden fancied himself something of a video game hero. It’s because video games tend to focus on normal, ordinary individuals finding a way to overcome a massive evil. They teach us about the power one person has to make a difference.
Here’s what the passage said:
“In Hong Kong, Snowden told me that at the heart of most video games is an ordinary individual who sees some serious injustice, right? Like some person who’s been kidnapped and you’ve got to rescue them, or some evil force that has obtained this weapon and you’ve got to deactivate it or kill them or whatever. And it’s all about figuring out ways to empower yourself as an ordinary person, to take on powerful forces in a way that allows you to undermine them in pursuit of some public good. Even if it’s really risky or dangerous. That moral narrative at the heart of video games was part of his preadolescence and formed part of his moral understanding of the world and one’s obligation as an individual.”
It takes incredible courage to step up against massive first world governments like the USA’s and Britain’s. Will Snowden go down as the hero he thinks himself to be, or just a footnote in history? Only time will tell.
Source: GQ