Yeah that's right, he gave up his life as he knew it, became the enemy of one of the most powerful organizations and lives in constant fear just so he can feed his ego, despite every attempt at focusing the story on NSA breaches and not himself. The controlled release of information by media outlets also just so happened to have a stronger effect which had the NSA chasing their tails being caught in their own lies upon subsequent release of new information - but that was secondary, he did it to temporarily feed his ego first and foremost, and perhaps for some lulz.
It's not like he's seen a dramatic, or possibly even noticeable, degradation in the quality of his life. He just traded his life of anonymity for one of fame and constant media attention with some restrictions on where he can travel freely.
I'm sure if he'd turned the data over to a respected journalist, they'd could have managed the release of information just as well. Instead he's kept the data to himself and chooses what to release allowing him to frame the story.
Why should we trust him? I mean his biggest achievement is stealing from his employer.
