Opinion | The consequences of 'mass weapons of misinformation'
Alice Wu says it is absurd to fault Snowden for his distrust of authorities when we know now, in the wake of 9/11, how trust was betrayed
Edward Snowden has definitely started something this world is never going to forget and, apparently, loopy commentaries come with the territory. New York Times columnist David Brooks' criticism of Snowden being an individualist is - to quote this paper's columnist Alex Lo - "bizarre". It is indeed bizarre that Brooks failed to see that Snowden, accused of being guilty of cynicism and distrust, is in fact a victim of it.
The story must start with the imaginary weapons of mass destruction constructed by the George W. Bush administration.
In 2008, the Centre for Public Integrity and the Fund for Independence in Journalism jointly published a study that found that, in the two years following the September 11 attacks, the Bush administration made 935 false statements about the national security threat from Iraq.
These lies were part of a campaign that "effectively galvanised public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretences", they said.
If Snowden had visited his mother more regularly, or not dropped out of high school, it might have made him more socially acceptable to Brooks. Even so, Brooks missed the point altogether with his loopy attempt to cast Snowden as some sort of 21st century geeky pariah.
It is absurd that Brooks failed to see how being on the receiving end of Bush's "weapons of mass misinformation" could have affected people like Snowden; it should not be beyond Brooks' imagination that it would heighten one's distrust of authority and encourage one's cynicism.