Happy Days

Having morals is what shapes an individual, as it formed Edward Snowden's, as well. When it comes to a job you have set rules you have to live by, they do not always live up to one's moralities. Do our personal morals give us the right to breach a contract and ultimately keep us from any prosecution if we do breach that contract? Edward Snowden, a former C.I.A. computer technician, released confidential documents that exposed some of NSA's (National Security Agency) secret actions. Snowden believed NSA was wrong for spying on everyday Americans. One could understand why he would think NSA's actions were wrong and needed to be disclosed to the general public, but what about the contract he undoubtedly signed when accepting his work? At one time, as a customer service representative for a company that provided customer service for a major cell phone company. Upon acceptance of the position with the company, I had to sign not only a confidentiality agreement, but also not work for a competitor within a year of me leaving the company when and if I did leave. This agreement stated that I would not share any business information with anyone that did not work there, if I did I could be prosecuted and put in jail. Snowden undoubtedly signed a contract telling him, he could be jailed for leaking government classified information. Based on that alone, what makes his actions morally right? On the other hand, he did leak information that the general public would most likely want to know about being that Americans are a part of a democratic society.

According to personal morals; Snowden's actions are downright wrong when it comes to breaking his contract. One does not go into a contract knowing what you can and cannot do, and then, completely disregard that contract based on what you want to do. One cannot just take matters into their own hands as Snowden did. There are rules and regulations in place for a reason