I think the most important idea is to remember that there have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal.
Edward SnowdenRead
It's important that we elevate and primarily focus on the rights of American citizens, but it's also important that we don't forget, 95 percent of the world's population lives beyond our own borders.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We should prioritize the rights of our citizens while recognizing our global responsibility.
Edward Snowden highlights the dual responsibility of acknowledging the rights of American citizens and being aware of the global context, where a vast majority of the world's population lives outside the United States. This quote urges us to balance our national interests with a broader understanding of humanity and the rights of people everywhere.
Themes
RightsCitizenshipGlobalResponsibilityPopulation
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about immigration policy, this quote emphasizes our need to consider global human rights.
More from Edward Snowden
All quotes →Congress hasn't declared war on the countries - the majority of them are our allies - but without asking for public permission, NSA is running network operations against them that affect millions of innocent people. And for what? So we can have secret access to a computer in a country we're not even fighting?
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A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.
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Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American, and the more panicked talk we hear from people like him... the better off we all are.
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I don't see myself as a hero because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.
Edward SnowdenRead
I care more about the country than what happens to me. But we can't allow the law to become a political weapon or agree to scare people away from standing up for their rights, no matter how good the deal. I'm not going to be part of that.
Edward SnowdenRead
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