Over the course of several years, the intellectuals that I had once considered to be my heroes – foundational to my moral compass and integral to my way of thinking – had become just the opposite. These writers, journalists, and public opinions to whom I had pledged my ideological allegiance for so many years and throughout so many battles had lost me. It was for that very reason – this idea of ideological allegiance, which is in nature antithetical to independent thinking – that my ideologies and methods of thinking began to shift (tangential to Professor Stephen Mack's ideas on democracy and religion here). The French author André Gide once wrote, "Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." As has been stressed in our class as well, the importance of healthy skepticism – especially towards those claiming to be telling you the truth – is one of the most important aspects to critical thinking. Ironically, it is this very aspect which has been lost in the majority of today's political discourse. As Professor Stephen Mack writes in his essay entitled “The ‘Decline’ of Public Intellectuals?”, “..if public intellectuals have any role to play in a democracy—and they do—it’s simply to keep the pot boiling." It is this idea – to "keep the pot boiling", that highlights the foundational role of public intellectuals – or in this case the metaphorical flames beneath the pot. Flames that provoke and embrace disagreements, ask uncomfortable questions, catalyze critical thinking, and approach hard issues without the need for definitive answers or solutions but rather the simple goal of discovering just a little bit more, digging just a little bit deeper. Public intellectuals who embrace these ideals are the ones we must thank most for keeping the ever-growing pot of intellectual discourse at a steady boil. In this vein, I will be examining the ideologies of Glenn Greenwald – an independent and thoroughly provocative journalist in today's political landscape – and documenting his contributions to the public discourse.
Greenwald, who is most famously known for his role in the Edward Snowden NSA Leaks, is often perceived as one of the more intellectually controversial (from a mainstream perspective) journalists in today's political landscape. Contrary to popular sentiment, however, "provocative and controversial" in the eyes of the mainstream excites me, which is why I've chosen to take a deeper dive into who Greenwald really is. Born in New York City circa 1967, Greenwald grew up in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, before later attending George Washington University, where he earned a bachelor of arts in philosophy. Following the completion of his degree at George Washington University, Greenwald was accepted to the New York University School of Law, where he would go on to earn his law degree. Greenwald began his litigation career as a constitutional lawyer in New York City, focusing on freedom of speech rights and individual liberties – principles that would lay the foundation for his entire career. In 2005, Greenwald began his transition to journalism with the publishing of his own blog called "Unclaimed Territory," in which he heavily criticized the George W. Bush administration for its handling of civil liberties in the context of the Iraq War – or the “War on Terror" as it had been coined. While the mainstream media amplified the narrative against Iraq and the United States justification for being there, Greenwald used his platform to dispute the legitimacy of Bush's claims and, in turn, America's justifications for being there to begin with. Additionally, Greenwald brought into question the breach of civil liberties caused by President Bush in his maneuvers to get us there. Greenwald’s accusations refuting the Bush Administration's claims of existing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq all turned out to be accurate and have led to a much broader debate on the foundational justifications for the United States invasion of Iraq. As Mack said – the role of the public intellectual is to "keep the pot boiling," and that is exactly what Greenwald was able to do.
As a result of his success in the blog space, Greenwald left his short-lived career as a lawyer behind and secured a job as a full-time journalist writing for Salon.com – a left-leaning news website – before his eventual move to The Guardian. While at The Guardian, Greenwald headed the crew behind the Edward Snowden NSA leaks in an article entitled “Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations," which to this day remains one of the most consequential pieces of investigative journalism in recent history. Greenwald's bombshell article and subsequent documentary is centered around former CIA technical assistant and contractor for the National Security Association (NSA) Edward Snowden, who details the massive undercover surveillance program being run by the NSA and its “Five Eyes' Alliance" (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand). These leaks – as documented and published by Glenn Greenwald at immense risk to both himself and Snowden – exposed the state of what was then a global mass surveillance program breaching the rights of every American citizen to the most profoundly pervasive degree. This example of the United States government's overreach and disregard for the civil liberties of their own citizens under the guise of a national security measure strikes a similar chord as Professor Mack’s statement, in that “Any argument for the public intellectual that…rests the assumption that common citizens are forever childlike and must be led by a class of experts is politically corrosive and historically dangerous." This idea that a group of "experts" are superior in nature to the forever "childlike citizens" of a country is the foundational thought process through which every authoritarian regime begins. Obviously, this is extremely dangerous and antithetical to the principles of what a true democracy stands for. Again, in Mack's essay, he cites: “What does a country built on headstrong individualism and the myth of self-reliance do with its people convinced that they know best?” This idea that we the people can think for ourselves – unconstrained by a mainstream narrative or the subsequent fear of controversiality – is the government's greatest fear and, as a result, its most pressing issue. Public intellectuals like Greenwald, Snowden, and so many more who have devoted their lives to exposing the overreaches perpetrated by governments within democratic societies are – in large part – who we must thank for maintaining our civil freedoms. Without the vast army of intellectual flames who "keep the pot boiling," our democratic societies – as was evidenced by the NSA leaks – would continue their crawl towards total authoritarianism.
Greenwald’s work in breaking Snowden’s story was the primary contributor to The Guardian’s win of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize – one of his crowning career achievements. Following his stints at The Guardian and Salon, Greenwald went on to co-found his own media company called The Intercept, whose mission statement is to be a "news organization dedicated to holding the powerful accountable through fearless, adversarial journalism. Its in-depth investigations and unflinching analysis focus on politics, war, surveillance, corruption, the environment, technology, criminal justice, the media, and more. The Intercept gives its journalists the editorial freedom and legal support they need to expose corruption and injustice wherever they find it." After six years of leading The Intercept, Greenwald resigned in 2020 due to censorship perpetrated by his company in response to his writing an article about corruption within the Biden family. Thus, Greenwald began to focus more heavily on an opinion show called "System Update" and published opinion pieces on Substack.
It is worth noting that Glenn Greenwald – though Jewish by blood – does not believe in a theological religion and has stated that his "moral precepts aren't informed in any way by religious doctrine." In line with the paradox of religion and democracy, as is posed in the excerpt above, it seems Greenwald also found himself at those very crossroads. This is significant because when listening to his opinion pieces, especially surrounding foreign policy and wars, they are most often drawn from thoroughly objective analyses – unaffected by religious affiliation – which, in the case of most libertarian/non-liberal leaning journalists, is not the case.
Upon my own introspection, where I once held allegiances to specific intellectual personalities, I now strive to hold an overarching skepticism rooted in independent and objective thought – undeterred by religious-like allegiances to specific personalities – which are characteristics that Greenwald exemplifies strongly. This intriguing paradox, as described by Professor Mack, in regards to religion and liberal democratic politics, also mirrors the challenges I encountered and just alluded to in navigating my own way through the vast field of public intellectuals. I found that in terms of who to pay attention to and who to disregard, there was one foundational piece of information that tells all – have they already found the truth, or are they continuously seeking it? Andre Gide's wisdom – as earlier described – in urging us to believe in truth seekers and to doubt those who claim to have already found it encapsulates this intellectual disposition exactly, and in adopting a similar thought process, the key aspects of critical thinking and healthy skepticism come along as well.
Separately, Professor Mack's juxtaposition of religion and liberal democracy comes into play again when considering Greenwald's secular positioning and bipartisan record of political analysis (Iraq War, George W. Bush, Obama via NSA, and Joe Biden). In a country where news cycles are dominated by a mainstream narrative, public intellectuals such as Greenwald – who are provocative and controversial from a mainstream perspective – play a vital role in challenging the establishment's views and bringing light to topics that would otherwise not undergo the debate necessary to preserve the principles which uphold American democracy. Thus, a departure from intellectual conformity, replaced by an appetite for healthy skepticism, is what we must strive for. In this vein, having explored Greenwald's ideologies and contributions to the public discourse deeper, the importance of public intellectuals such as him is strikingly evident. Greenwald's career achievements, from constitutional litigation to challenging the United States government on its blatantly unlawful infringements of civil liberties during the Iraq War, to exposing the severe breaches of international and constitutional law via the NSA Edward Snowden leaks, to now exposing the perverse incentives afoot in Ukraine, all came from a relentless commitment to truth-seeking, a fearlessness of controversiality, and a process of critical thinking unhindered by religious or party affiliation. These characteristics are imperative to objective analysis and are the result of constant skepticism towards those who claim to be holding the truth.
Finally, public intellectuals who aspire to embody the ideals discussed by Mack must understand that they play the most pivotal role in sustaining the flames of transparency beneath the boiling pot of democracy in what is truly a never-ending pursuit of truth. Having taken a comprehensive approach examination of Greenwald's work, his career achievements embody this sentiment as well: "if public intellectuals have any role to play in a democracy—and they do—it’s simply to keep the pot boiling.”
Works Cited:
Borger, Julian, “NSA files: what's a little spying between old friends?”, December 2, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/02/nsa-files-spying-allies-enemies-five-eyes-g8
Bush, George, “Global War on Terror”, National Archives, January 3, 2003, https://www.georgewbushlibrary.gov/research/topic-guides/global-war-terror
Editors, “About The Intercept”, The Intercept, https://theintercept.com/about/
Editors, “Edward Snowden”, Right Livelihood, 2014, https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/edward-snowden/
Haaretz, “Glenn Greenwald Was Never Bar Mitzvahed”, Haaretz, May 15, 2014, https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2014-05-15/ty-article/glenn-greenwald-was-never-bar-mitzvahed/0000017f-e85a-df5f-a17f-fbde7f680000
Gide, Andre, BookBrowse, https://www.bookbrowse.com/quotes/detail/index.cfm/quote_number/460/believe-those-who-are-seeking-the-truth-doubt-those-who-find-it
Greenwald, Glenn, “Is Syria next -- either by accident or on purpose?”, Unclaimed Territory, July31, 2006, https://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/07/
Greenwald, Glenn, “System Update”, Substack, https://greenwald.substack.com/
Guardian Staff, “Glenn Greenwald resigns from the Intercept over 'editorial freedom'”, The Guardian, October 29, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/oct/29/journalist-glenn-greenwald-resigns-the-intercept
Greenwald, Glenn, “Media finally starting to report the President's systematic lawbreaking”, Unclaimed Territory, April 30, 2006, https://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/04/
Greenwald, Glenn, “The President has "made his choice" -- more wars”, “Unclaimed Territory”, August 31, 2006, https://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/08/
Greenwald, Glenn, “Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations”, The Guardian, June 11, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance
Haan, Katherine, “What Is The Five Eyes Alliance?”, Forbes Advisor, October 5, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/what-is-five-eyes/
Mack, Stephen, “The ‘Decline’ of Public Intellectuals?”, Stephen Mack, August 14, 2007, http://www.stephenmack.com/blog/archives/the_public_intellectual/index.html
Mack, Stephen, “Wicked Paradox: The Cleric as Public Intellectual”, Stephen Mack, August 14, 2007, http://www.stephenmack.com/blog/archives/the_public_intellectual/index.html
Salon”, AllSides, https://www.allsides.com/news-source/salon
Parker, Ian, “Glenn Greenwald, the Bane of Their Resistance“, The New Yorker, August 27, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/03/glenn-greenwald-the-bane-of-their-resistance
Testa, Jessica, “How Glenn Greenwald Became Glenn Greenwald,” BuzzFeed, June 26, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20220107032902/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jtes/how-glenn-greenwald-became-glenn-greenwald
The People, “Glenn Greenwald’s Headline-Making Year”, NYU Law Magazine, 2014, https://blogs.law.nyu.edu/magazine/2014/glenn-greenwalds-headline-making-year
Comments