R: Whistleblowers are Traitors

A whistleblower is an informant. Someone who exposes wrongdoing in a private or public organization. Famous examples include Bradley Manning, who released the largest set of classified documents in U.S. history, and Edward Snowden, who leaked top-secret documents that detailed the NSA’s surveillance regime. Though he was ultimately pardoned by Obama, Manning was convicted of violating the Espionage Act and sentenced to thirty-five years in prison. Snowden was also charged with violating the Espionage Act, but he fled to Moscow and now lives life on the lam. The aforementioned Espionage Act makes it illegal to disclose national security information to unauthorized parties. While some Americans look to Manning and Snowden as heroes, others see them as traitors to our country.

It was Edmund Burke who wrote that men “should approach to the faults of the state as to the wounds of a father, with pious awe and trembling solicitude.” Patriots are loyal to their country. Those in the affirmative believe that real patriotism prevents citizens from speaking ill of their government. Yes, our nation has its flaws. But nothing is perfect. To shine a light on America’s imperfections is an act of betrayal. It is especially treasonous when, and this is often the case, exposing the inner workings of our government poses a threat to national security. Furthermore, whistleblowing is inextricably linked to public spectacle. The whole point is to make something known by a massive audience. Instead of availing themselves of the reform processes that already exist, whistleblowers undermine the credibility of our cherished institutions by not allowing them to mend their own wounds.

However, it is not necessarily true that revealing government secrets is tantamount to treason. Our institutions are not perfect. This means they are corruptible. It’s not that whistleblowers believe the institutions are irredeemable, just that the already-existing institutional safeguards and reform methods are incapable of ameliorating their issues. For those in the negative, whistleblowers are a bulwark against corruption. Whistleblowers promote accountability and help regulate our institutions when they fail to do it themselves. We have a moral obligation to speak out against injustice. When whistleblowers see something unjust being done, they speak the truth and do not let their superiors sweep transgressions under the rug. In addition to this, there are laws on the books that protect whistleblowers, which would seem to suggest that these individuals are performing a service to their country, not stabbing it in the back.

How forgiving should a citizen be of his or her nation’s misdeeds? To what extent should we question authority? What does it mean to be patriotic? Are whistleblowers conservative?