The Most “Un-Patriotic” Act of All Time

When our Founding Fathers declared for the new world, they had a dream and a vision. They were going to escape tyrannical British rule and self govern themselves in a democratic environment, where a higher power did not decide the destinies, decisions, and lifestyles of individuals, but instead, the power of the individual made these important decisions instead. 

As we have all learned from previous history classes, once they came to the new world, they eventually wrote and signed the Constitution. Formatting the new laws, systems, and means of operation in a so called contract that they all later signed, this was the new foundation and guideline to live life by. Along with this, also came the Bill of Rights.

As I distinguish myself as a Libertarian, I guess you could say that I simply love the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. I believe that the men who wrote them were ahead of their time in beliefs and ideals, they were not biased in any means possible (other than against authoritarian rule), and I personally believe that you will never find another group of men that cared more for the United States of America, like the Founding Fathers. Needless to say, I am a strong believer and advocate for following the Bill of Rights and Constitution avidly. However, in recent governmental policy, it seems as if the Bill of Rights and Constitution are nothing more than irrelevant documents from the past that politicians find loop holes in to jeopardize our long and hard fought freedom.

To be more specific, I am talking about the Patriot Act. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, the government created the Patriot Act. This act allowed for the government or government constituents such as the National Security Agency (NSA) to mass collect previous emails, internet searches, computer archives, phone calls, and any other form of personal data from anyone that they deem necessary, whenever they deem necessary. They claim that it is in order to reduce terrorism, but I view this heinous crime as nothing more than an abuse against my rights.

The Bill or Rights defines the Fourth Amendment as, “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probably cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searches, and the persons or things to be seized.”  Clearly, the Patriot Act collides and tarnishes with every American’s Fourth Amendment.

I get it. It was post 9/11, terrorism like this has never really happened before, and the country was both anxious and scared, but there are different ways that we could handle terrorism than this. I firmly believe that every American has the constitutional right of privacy. Whether they are exchanging phone calls or emails, looking up embarrassing searches on Google, or anything else behind closed doors, with their personal devices and lives, the government should not even have the possibility of abusing our rights like this. Simply owning a phone or computer, should not be the death warrant to your Fourth Amendment.

In fact, many professionals who have specialized in the effects of the Patriot Act have determined that most of the time, the Patriot Act is not even successful in carrying out what it was made to do in the first place. There are two simple reasons why this is a failure (aside from the governmental abuse). Information is not collected from everyone, but it alternates in people. Therefore, real terrorist data can go by unnoticed simply for the fact that NSA was collecting the wrong information. Additionally, these servers collect so much at a time, that it can be nearly impossible to effectively search through the information in time before a potential attack would even happen. With both of these reasons together, it is essentially that we are looking for a “needle in the haystack,” and sometimes the needle isn’t even there.

This is a perfect example of why government is a problem. No one man (or entity in this case) should have this much power over another man. Our Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves, seeing our we give up their hard earned freedom, liberty, and rights, to government rule. It’s similar concepts like this, that made them leave in the first place. So this all leads me to the end of my rant and a question I am curious to ask all of you. Are you willing to give up guaranteed privacy, for possible security?

One thought on “The Most “Un-Patriotic” Act of All Time”

  1. This is a very tricky and extremely interesting topic, especially because I plan to go into the field of cybersecurity and I have really given it some thought. Throughout research I have done in the past and recent reflection on the very same question you posed at the end of your post, I feel that the only thing separating individual privacy from personal/national security is an excruciatingly fine line that too often gets crossed not only by the government, but also by individuals themselves. I am completely with you in saying that I love America, the Constitution, and especially the Bill of Rights. We would not be able to have discussions like this without any of those things.
    However, the problem with the technological aspect of the fourth amendment in today’s digital age lies in the inconvenience and evident disadvantage for law enforcement or intelligence agencies to properly access information pertaining to relevant criminal acts, not just terrorist threats. Actually, most of the sources through which information is gained by the Patriot Act are already being tracked by private businesses and corporations, such as Google, Facebook, and any other website that uses cookies. So the only difference with the institution of the Act is that now government agencies are “allowed” to use this open-source information to support their searches for terrorism. The Patriot Act goes on to specify that other methods that overstep the fourth-amendment such as wiretapping are available, but only in certain situations where there is enough evidence already recognized to warrant further action and need for surveillance.
    One more point I want to add to this discussion: you said that “owning a phone or computer, should not be the death warrant to your Fourth Amendment”. Although I agree completely with that statement – everyone should be able to use the technologies that are openly available – my realist views are evident when I say that complete anonymity online is simply impossible in today’s world, especially because of the silent cookies that constantly run in the background of the majority of websites to track our selections, preferences, even mouse movements on the screen. Most people don’t even realize it’s happening. And when they do realize it, that’s because they’re filling out one of those name and email address forms to get entered to win a contest online, or to get free shipping on a purchase, or something along those lines. An incentive in exchange for a piece of ourselves that we can never get back because we already willingly gave it away online.
    And only too often do these online businesses sell our emails to other businesses, resulting in all the never-ending flow of spam that floods our inboxes. If these unwanted businesses have access to this information, why should the government, who, if they even end up using our personal info at all, is simply trying to keep you and your neighbors safer, be chastised for using the same open-source information?
    Some people may feel that the Patriot Act inhibits the individual’s right to privacy, but when you think about it, don’t we all do that to ourselves by maintaining an active presence on humanity’s most interactive commonplace ever conceived?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *