(CNN) -- When I was a kid, I remember a guy named Daniel Ellsberg leaking some classified documents to the New York Times about the Vietnam War called "the Pentagon Papers." When the whistle-blower finally stood trial for espionage, my parents weren't quite sure how to feel. But when Richard Nixon's crew was revealed to have been conducting illegal wiretaps in an effort to discredit the former intelligence contractor, well, they were outraged and decided Ellsberg was a hero. So did the judge and most of America. I wonder whether Ed Snowden, the 29-year-old Booz Allen Hamilton employee behind last week's series of leaks about National Security Agency surveillance on the American public, will be rewarded with the same admiration. You'd think we would be even more outraged by what he uncovered than we were by the surveillance of Ellsberg. After all, it's not just one lone loose cannon being wiretapped here, it's all of us being monitored.
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Daniel Ellsberg became a hero for his role in disclosing the Pentagon Papers
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Douglas Rushkoff: Will Snowden be recognized for his heroism in disclosing mass surveillance?
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He credits Snowden with revealing how technology is eroding human freedom
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Rushkoff: Snowden disengaged to consider the impact of what he was helping build
In the coming months, I expect a campaign to be waged against this young man that will make the one against @placeholder look like child's play.
@placeholder is a hero because he realized that our very humanity was being compromised by the blind implementation of machines in the name of making us safe.