Please don't get confused, I'm referring to normal people rather than the technologically adept. Is it so difficult to acknowledge that the blow-back from Snow

Please don't get confused, I'm referring to normal people rather than the technologically adept. Is it so difficult to acknowledge that the blow-back from Snowden's documents would've been diminished had the news been prevented from reaching normal people? The nations look at China and see a populace that is pacified whom dare not speak against the government, and they see the Great Firewall as something to marvel in its pervasiveness. America's rivalry is turning to jealousy, and they see themselves as hindered by policies that China is unaffected by (free speech, freedom of association, etc).