Our whole lives we have had
the freedoms to do as we please, within moderation. Calling a friend never stirred in us an unsettling feeling, just
as looking up information using Google or Yahoo was never thought about twice.
Unfortunately, times have
changed and these once known as “rights” have been taken away.
On Oct. 26, 2001, President
Bush signed the Patriot Act into law.
Hiding behind the guise of “terrorism,” the law was passed and Americans
embraced it as a grandmother might do to her granddaughter. After all, this
would protect the United States against further terrorist attacks.
The 342-page bill makes
changes to more than 15 different statutes.
By expanding surveillance with reduced checks and balances, the
government had begun to take some heat from the masses and the media.
The world wide web has now
taken a violent shove into the government hands with a constant, watchful eye
on search engines across the world.
Words such as “bombs” and “terrorism” can be traced by the government
making you a suspected terrorist and your computer a weapon of mass
destruction. Along with Internet
surveillance and the fear of having your every mouse click recorded, wire taps
on phones have made their way into many homes and offices around the
nation.
Mayor John
Street of Philadelphia found wiretaps and listening devices throughout his
office. Placed there by the FBI, Street
wants answers that the Feds refuse to surrender. Due to the Patriot Act, the government does not need to give
proof to the courts of reasons why a wiretap was in need. Any sort of surveillance is legal when
dealing with tapped phone lines and Internet watching. Even e-mails may be
traced.
Along with simple freedoms
that have been taken for granted involving security and privacy, the freedom of
speech and right to protest have also taken a dramatic blow. There are now three different sects of
terrorism with more being made everyday.
Under the new definition of “domestic terrorism”, any legitimate protest
activity could be worthy of convictions on terroristic charges, especially if
the protest gets violent.
It was evident that after
September 11 the whole face of America was changed. Our way of life wasbe different.
The carefree attitude we all once held, the way we were semi-sympathetic
with the Israeli and Palestinian conflict and the horrible acts of violence in
Africa, the way we looked at our television screens and shook our heads in
disappointment of our fellow man but felt somewhat content thinking that we
didn’t have to worry about things happening to us. All of it was taken and thrown out the window.
But my disappointment was not only in the human
race. It soon diverted its direction to a much smaller scale. The government, taking advantage of the
current situation and the vulnerability of the American people, used the term
“terrorism” to get people to take this bill and make it their anthem. Nobody bothered to find out the loopholes,
the freedoms that would be imposed upon, before agreeing with President Bush
that this was a law to keep all Americans safe.
Regularly
I find myself looking over my shoulder, just wondering if Big Brother is
looking over me from a camera implanted in an oak tree.
Now don’t get me wrong, it is wonderful to have a law in effect that may potentially save lives. This law, however, has raped the American public of their constitutional rights and in doing so has created a divide between the citizens and their government.