[nota_bene]

Snowden has risked his life and will be forced to remain paranoid for the entire rest of his life. His cause is noble and 100% justified. He did it for society, for us. What did we do to thank him? We labelled him a traitor and showed no support. And most of all: Almost nobody listened, almost nobody changed habits accordingly. So what does it take to make people listen and understand that our privacy is about to be completely abolished by technology?

It takes exactly leaks like this one. Brutal, emotional, visible and highly controversial events.

[Cthulhu_]

IIRC, Snowden has yet to be formally charged for treason; "we" didn't label or charge him for that, that's a gross generalization. I know what you mean, but you might want to tweak that wording a bit.

[ascagnel_]

He was charged under the Espionage Act of 1917, so it's spying, not treason as defined by the US Constitution (he hasn't levied war or adhered to an enemy, but it is possible to argue that he's provided aid to an enemy through the leaks).

[steveeq1]

Most people on HN, including myself, side with Edward Snowden