Matt Damon: Edward Snowden did a great thing
Though just a role in a movie (though one he co-wrote), his scene about why his character in Good Will Hunting should or shouldn't work for the NSA seems relevant.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYteE7XGaY4" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYteE7XGaY4</a><p>EDIT: Here's the text of it (it appears unformatted because it's one long (well-delivered) line of text).<p>Why shouldn't I work for the NSA? That's a tough one.
           But I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at the NSA, and
           somebody puts a code on my desk, somethin' no one else
           can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break
           it. And I'm real happy with myself, cus' I did my job
           well. But maybe that code was the location of some
           rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East and once they have
           that location, they bomb the village where the rebels are
           hiding... Fifteen hundred people that I never met, never
           had no problem with get killed. Now the politicians are
           sayin', "Oh, Send in the marines to secure the area" cus'
           they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there,
           gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number
           got called, cus' they were off pullin' a tour in the National
           Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie over there takin'
           shrapnel in the ass. He comes back to find that the plant
           he used to work at got exported to the country he just
           got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his
           ass got his old job, cus' he'll work for fifteen cents a day
           and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile he realizes the only
           reason he was over there in the first place was so that
           we could install a government that would sell us oil at a
           good price. And of course the oil companies used the
           little skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices.
           A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't
           helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. They're takin'
           their sweet time bringin' the oil back, of course, maybe
           even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who
           likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the
           icebergs, it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil
           and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now
           my buddy's out of work. He can't afford to drive, so
           he's walking to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks
           because the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic
           hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' cus' every
           time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate
           special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with
           Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for
           somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it why not
           just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn
           enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby
           seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I
           could be elected President.<p>EDIT TWO: Watching that monologue in context made the scene more relevant. The NSA guys try to entice him with the opportunity to work on cool math with brilliant people. He responds with something I can only imagine current NSA smart people haven't done but I hope they are starting to -- to consider the consequences of their actions and their responsibility. Hacker News posted a story -- <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6258093" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6258093</a> -- about a math professor whom the NSA employed for a couple summers as a math undergrad in Princeton now calling on his colleagues to question their contributions and to speak up.<p>It raises a timeless question in science and engineering: "I <i>can</i> do this, but <i>should</i> I? ... What are the consequences?"