In a society that values liberty, a whistleblower should be a hero. A whistleblower should not be forced to choose between their personal well-being and coming forward. Edward Snowden's insider announcement on the scope of the NSA's ability to gather, archive, and analyze information should come as no shock to the more cynical among us. It was easy enough to assume, but now we're staring down the truth of it. If we don't find a way to pressure the powers that be to give up some of their hidden power, contrary to all of their self-aggrandizing instincts, we're in for a very stark decline into a classically dystopian future.

Perhaps if more insiders had come forward to expose wrongdoing, and irregularities at the major U.S. banks and investment houses a few years ago, the impact of the financial meltdown leading to the Great Recession might have been softened. Until each one of us does this, we're all muppets.