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Philosophically this is always on really shaky ground. Those that strongly support Manning's actions are saying "We want to live in a nation of laws. However, i

Philosophically this is always on really shaky ground. Those that strongly support Manning's actions are saying "We want to live in a nation of laws. However, if an individual believes those laws to be unjust or unfair, based solely on his determination, then he should be free to ignore those laws and act as he sees fit. He should not be punished" That's a pretty open ended precedent to set. There is absolutely no doubt that people die in the US every year who would not die in say a Western European country because of the choices this country makes around the role of government in helping the sick, the poor and the old. Is someone free to break the laws and put lives at risk in the name of rebelling against the injustice of those who die or suffer when we have the resources to ensure they don't? That's why even if Bradley is right he's wrong. And btw I have so much respect for the fact he is getting 1/10th of the coverage of Snowden but may actually be more worthy if anything of attention.

_delirium 13y ago
As far as I can tell, nearly everyone agrees that breaking the law when it is unjust is a good idea, in at least some cases. In the U.S., the illegal civil-rights marches and sit-ins now enjoy nearly universal praise (including quite a few retroactive converts), and the Boston Tea Party is even taught to schoolchildren in a positive light. The only real disagreement seems to be over what injustices are serious enough to warrant such actions, not over the principle. And I mean, trashing someone's ship while disguised as a Native American, in order to protest an import tax, doesn't exactly set a high bar.
precisioncoder 13y ago
That's not the situation. He exposed the fact that the US Military was breaking the law. Thus whistle-blowing. There are laws protecting him and he is still being punished.
- uwotm8920 13y ago
  > He exposed the fact that the US Military was breaking the law. And what about the other 700,000 classified documents?

_delirium 13y ago

As far as I can tell, nearly everyone agrees that breaking the law when it is unjust is a good idea, in at least some cases. In the U.S., the illegal civil-rights marches and sit-ins now enjoy nearly universal praise (including quite a few retroactive converts), and the Boston Tea Party is even taught to schoolchildren in a positive light. The only real disagreement seems to be over what injustices are serious enough to warrant such actions, not over the principle. And I mean, trashing someone's ship while disguised as a Native American, in order to protest an import tax, doesn't exactly set a high bar.

precisioncoder 13y ago

That's not the situation. He exposed the fact that the US Military was breaking the law. Thus whistle-blowing. There are laws protecting him and he is still being punished.

uwotm8920 13y ago
> He exposed the fact that the US Military was breaking the law. And what about the other 700,000 classified documents?