As Edward Snowden sits in Hong Kong and awaits his fate as determined by the U.S. Justice system, I hope that the citizens of these great United States ponder the dilemma and our future as an evolving society. Mr. Snowden has been accused of disclosing to the world the secret NSA surveillance program that harvests communication data from around the world including U.S. citizens inside the USA.

In my humble opinion we as Americans should not fear the likes of Mr. Snowden, he and hundreds like him cannot destroy America. What we must fear are the millions of Americans who are in a catatonic state everyday as they witness wrongdoing in many aspects of our society and because of the fear of losing their income, “rocking the boat”, or being castigated as unpatriotic, they calmly go about their business hoping that maybe someone else will have the temerity to question actions that are contrary to our laws and could be harmful to our survival as Americans.

We as Americans must ensure that there is always a system in place that is independent; providing the ability for citizens to act responsibly and report cases of wrongdoing in every aspect of our society, to weed out those who do not play by the rules. This system must operate in a way similar to law enforcement mechanisms in place; a person witnessing the commission of law-breaking by any entity should feel compelled and indeed supported to report the perceived wrongdoing. This report should lead to deployment of an independent investigation that during its course protects the witness (reporter of crime) and does not apportion ignominy, degradation, or ridicule at any time during the process. This system must not be “window dressing” but truly independent of Government and business, and only bound by the law to operate.

We know there is wrong doing when we see massive cost overruns on projects, members of congress whose wealth growth is substantially greater that is possible with “their stated earnings”, CEOs getting substantial bonuses when their corporations are failing, unexplained deaths of suspects in the custody of law enforcement personnel, etc. etc. We also know when our system is failing us because of lack of credible investigations into these obvious improprieties.

We must not allow our society to become like the places our brave men and women fought against. We must never be in a position whereby our citizens feel so pressured and fearful of reprisals and other negative consequences by fellow citizens and government, that their only option appears to be to flee to foreign lands to feel safe from persecution and prosecution for speaking out against any wrongdoing.

When we categorize the likes of Mr. Snowden as a traitor because he disclosed the actions of the government that appear to be contrary to the constitution, it demonstrates to the world that we are no better than those nations whose citizens had to flee to America for freedom from persecution for speaking out against wrongdoing in their land.

Being a traitor or one who provides assistance to the enemy is definitively not the same as reporting wrongdoing. We must put into context Mr. Snowden’s action. During our many conflicts, our government has investigated and rightly prosecuted some of our military personnel who have killed civilians contrary to the Geneva Convention, for those investigations to have started; someone had to step forward with the information. Did that whistle-blower provide aid to the enemy or were they traitors, absolutely not. They upheld what we as Americans hold dear a higher standard than everyone else in the world. Our actions are a gold standard that must be beyond reproach.

If the government of the United States is using the NSA Surveillance which might contravene the Constitution, it behooves the government, when challenged, to explain and provide their justification for the actions rather that attempting to persecute the individual who has questioned and shone light on perceived problems with the program. From the comments of several members of congress they seem to have been aware of the NSA program for some time and for whatever reason never felt motivated to question its lawfulness, maybe for fear of seemingly not supporting the fight against terrorism. We must ask of some in congress, are they protecting a self-serving interest or are they working on behalf of the American public? The deliberate politicizing of this issue shows a lack of courage, moral fiber and respect for America’s citizens. Now is not the time to be coy and play the room for gain. It is the time to state real concern and constructive dialogue about how things might possibly be better implemented to ensure our collective safety.

In the efforts to protect American lives and interests one would be hard pressed to find individuals who would not support the US government’s current efforts, but it is the obligation of the government to ensure the American people are kept abreast of the mission requirements and results which would mitigate fear, concern and paranoia and negate the need for the actions of individuals like Mr. Snowden.

If any tech savvy person believes that in this era of technology governments are incapable of monitoring every bit of information traversing the airwaves or the internet, then he/she must believe in Santa Claus and if anyone believes that in combating the perpetrators of mayhem and destruction the government should rely on luck, then they are not leadership material.

We as Americans must ensure that none of our citizens feel it necessary to flee to another country for fear of persecution for speaking out against wrongdoing in any aspect of our society. When we allow, indeed encourage, through neglect, this to happen, we lose moral standing, the higher ground, that much admired distinction we hold with pride must be protected and nurtured so that to quote President Ronald Reagan “America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.”