The Patriot Act-ing Like Spying On 300 million People Is Acceptable

Ivan Ornelas

Section 2

Week 6


               I mentioned either in my blog post, presentation, or both last week that one of the key factors that causes the USA to be evolved in some heavy situations is paranoia. In the Vietnam War, the USA was afraid that Communism would reign supreme in Vietnam and per the domino effect Communism would spread to the other Southeast Asian nations. Paranoia was rampant after the 9/11 attacks; our security shattered, and the lives of the people of the United States of America were changed forever. The Patriot Act was seen as a solution, and as I've been reminded a few times during this course, these situations are never as clear cut as we would like them to be. What appears to be a solution could actually be the beginning of a new problem. The Patriot Act was meant to be a solution that involved the FBI and CIA obtaining more power and resources for surveillance purposes in case future attacks developed.

              Even though this seemed like a reasonable idea for some, it is a very scary one. Privacy is something we all hold dear because the more people who you don't know or trust know about you the more that can put you in danger. It's a catch 22 because there is no ignoring that the USA has some enemies. There are few better alternatives to this to stop terrorist threats in our country. But ultimately from my understanding of how this all works, it's not feasible (financially, practically, or in some other way) to just create a list of all terrorists in the USA and only keep tabs on them. This all goes back to paranoia. There is always going to be danger but to live every day of your life anticipating that danger to the point of obsession can take a toll on a person mentally. Frankly I don't think the government has the right to be doing this. This is very similar to the lab rat treatment Americans received way back when the USA were British Colonies. It just does not seem right, it feels like a violation of our rights.

Would we be safer without the high level of government surveillance in place these days?