Edward Snowden, whistleblower

At 29, Edward Snowden left his $200,000 a year job, his girlfriend and his family and blew the whistle on the secret surveillance of the agencies he had worked for -- NSA and the CIA, among others. Metaphorically, he joins Pfc. Bradley Manning, 25, in an effort to call attention to what both might see as a tyranny-in-the-making.

Both in The Guardian article and in the video above, Snowden addresses the why's of his actions.