In Edward Snowden’s opinion the U.S.’s current LGBTQ rights movement would not have been possible in a world where government surveillance was ubiquitous. In a surprise Ask Me Anything session hosted on Reddit, Snowden fielded a wide range of questions from users of the popular news platform.
“Perfect surveillance,” he explained, would be antithetical to the subversive origins of most of the major social revolutions that have shaped American history:
“When we look back on history, the progress of Western civilization and human rights is actually founded on the violation of law. America was of course born out of a violent revolution that was an outrageous treason against the crown and established order of the day.
"History shows that the righting of historical wrongs is often born from acts of unrepentant criminality. Slavery. The protection of persecuted Jews. But even on less extremist topics, we can find similar examples. How about the prohibition of alcohol? Gay marriage? Marijuana?
"Where would we be today if the government, enjoying powers of perfect surveillance and enforcement, had — entirely within the law — rounded up, imprisoned, and shamed all of these lawbreakers?"
h/t Pink News
