On the latest episode of the HBO show “Last Week Tonight,” John Oliver went to Russia to interview the most famous/treasonous whistleblower America has produced in recent memory: Edward Snowden.
The interview was generally funny and surprisingly thorough, poking modest fun at Snowden’s unfortunate situation, pressing Snowden to own up to his actions and finally placing the context of Snowden’s situation into terms the American people might ?actually digest.
Thus Oliver invented the “dick pic program,” the NSA department responsible for harvesting duplicates of our private privates some of us feel inclined to share. Of course, such a program doesn’t really exist, but as Oliver was attempting to highlight, the NSA will grab whatever communications you’re sending so long as they find it useful.
In the same episode, Oliver’s crew visited Time Square to ask random passers-by if they know of Edward Snowden and what he’s responsible for.
Defending the segment against cherry-picking — where one chooses only the segments to air that would further their arguments — Oliver said the few who actually knew of Snowden were wholly representative of the issue at hand: no one seemed to know who Snowden was.
However, regardless of cherry-picking or not, the entire point of the show was to reformat a complex, technically-demanding topic into one that average Americans could carry on at ?their convenience.
But like myself, there were others who thought the episode was emblematic of a larger issue.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote for the Intercept last week that it wasn’t an accident no one knew who Snowden was on Oliver’s show. Americans are infamous for their cultural arrogance and political ignorance; we are arguably one of the most complacent and indifferent First World nations human history ?has seen.
And while Snowden hit the nail on the head when he said, “We can’t expect everybody to be uniformly informed,” we can expect people to pay enough attention to make informed decisions on important rulings and hearings, reelecting local government appointees and representatives, etc.
Because that’s what being a citizen means. You don’t get to live here and be completely ignorant to the processes that allow you to live here.
Americans are caught up in so many tactless issues that really merit no mention here or anywhere, that participating in the political process has become a ?burden for us.
Here’s the thing about ignorance: you can only fall back on it if you honestly didn’t know the ?implications of whatever you were desperately trying not to pay attention to.
To be fair, Oliver did ask Snowden if this was a conversation Americans had the capacity to engage with, and while Snowden was sympathetic to the issue, I’m afraid the “dick pic program” may be the best we’ll get.
Extended provisions for the Patriot Act are due to expire June 1, which includes Section 215, allowing for the bulk collection of “any tangible” thing by the NSA.
Despite contrary belief, we do have voices, and they can make a difference.
If this issue speaks to you, speak to others and stimulate the conversation before it’s too late.
michoman@indiana.edu
