The government knows how to keep the public in order, by fear and being overly strict. Without a doubt, we all know the government want us, the people, to stay “stupid”, so we end up under their control, however the article entitled 4 Core American Principles That Can Rejuvenate Our Country, states that the first principle is for the government to understand the public. I think that is already done, that’s how they stay on top, by overruling us in fear. For example, they allow us to think we have privacy, nevertheless, they lie, they actually view everything we do on the internet, our phones, and even where we go while we use GPS’s. As you can see, the government already understands us and what we do, but I still don’t comprehend how that is
A dispute widespread amongst the citizens of the United States of America is on government, and more specifically on how much power the government should yield. The philosophical question I will be posing in this article is ‘what should the government have the power to do’. All the way to the left, we have liberals who believe in a big government and a government that is involved with supporting the people and curbing social inequalities and social hierarchy while supporting social equality. On the other side of the spectrum we have right wing conservatives who prefer a government that is small and call for reduced social spending, less regulation. In addition, they accept social hierarchy and social inequality citing that social hierarchy and social inequality are inevitable. With this essay, I want to focus on if the government has the power to invade your privacy. Currently reactions has been wild ever since former NSA analyst Edward Snowden leaked the massive PRISM internet surveillance program used by the NSA to collect data on citizens of the U.S. The philosophical question ‘what should the government have the power to do’ correlates with the NSA because the NSA is an institution of the government, and should the government have the power to spy on its citizens without their knowledge and without a warrant for the sake of national security.
The general public gives an problem with the government surveillance as a media for invading others privacy. With the government monitoring, collecting, and retaining people's personal data, one side would claim that it is an infringement of their freedom to the rights to privacy. While the National security associations justifies the reason for monitoring would be to maintain order. Their ways to maintain order would be to monitor criminal and terrorist activity and to detect incoming threats, terrorists, or problems that would harm their country. This issue shows that freedom cannot exist without order. Although the general public wants their freedom of their privacy, they can not achieve their most of their desires because it puts their lives at risk without protection. Order is necessary in order to have freedom. It is impossible to attain entire freedom for a cause, however, it is possible to attain freedom to a certain
There are several instituting concepts that for me illustrate the founding principles of America and the hopeful vision of the future of this country. There are those that stood out for me during my research for this assignment and resonated with my feelings and understanding of the country at large. First and foremost is Life Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness; this sentiment is to me the very cornerstone of the hope of America’s inception. Given this principles self explanatory nature I will concentrate on the other founding concepts that have meaning to me. First of these would be the thought of benefiting from one’s own hard work, second is the inalienable rights of man, and lastly the concept of the least possible government being
Since the founding of the United States of America, freedom has been the basis of the governmental and ruling systems in place. Individual freedoms are protected in both the Bill of Rights and the rest of the Constitution, and Schwartz (2009) explains that ‘public liberty ultimately enhances collective rationality—it is a path to heightening our wisdom by increasing access to pertinent information and improving decision making’ (p. 409). However, there have been many times in history when the true freedom of citizens is called into question. There has always been controversy about how much power the government should have, who is keeping the government in check, and if citizens are properly informed about what their elected governed are doing. The passing of the Patriot Act in 2001 was no exception to this controversy. The
Technology has become very effective for a thriving generation, but it also possesses a handful of flaws that counter the benefits. Technologies help people post and deliver a message in a matter of seconds in order to get a message spread quickly. It also gives individuals the power to be the person they want to be by only showing one side of themselves. But sometimes information that had intentions of remaining protected gets out. That information is now open for all human eyes to see. This information, quite frankly, becomes everybody’s information and can be bought and sold without the individual being aware of it at all. However, this is no accident. Americans in the post 9/11 era have grown accustomed to being monitored. Government entities such as the NSA and laws such as the Patriot Act have received power to do so in order to protect security of Americans. However, the founding fathers wrote the fourth amendment to protect against violations of individual’s privacy without reason. In a rapidly growing technological world, civil liberties are increasingly being violated by privacy wiretapping from government entities such as the NSA, Patriot Act and the reduction of the Fourth Amendment.
Citizens do not always fully understand legislation before becoming angry at someone. Who better to point a finger at than their government (Zuckerman para 7)? Despite the actual legal terms on surveillance, innocent citizens feel that they have had their rights violated and wonder why the government needs their information if they have nothing to hide. The supreme court declared in the third party doctrine that “anyone turning over information to a third party, such as a bank or Internet service provider, has no right to object if that information is later shared with the government” (Timberg para 11). Whether they understand the law or not, most people feel that their information should not be unnecessarily subjected to the government without their voiced approval (Zuckerman para 6). “Quite simply, the administration could have done a much better job of explaining both the potential and the limits of data mining. It should have made it clear
Is anyone’s private information contained in their cell phone actually private? Are appointments, bank information, conversations, the user’s location or other sensitive personal information truly confidential? Is there a Big Brother watching? There is no definitive answer to any of these questions. From the beginning of time to now, privacy has become more and more scarce. Through new developments in technology, it is hard to believe that someone is not watching your move at any given moment. The government’s job is to keep Americans safe, but where is the line drawn? Where is the difference between having a reasonable doubt and accessing information solely because these government officials have the power to do so? The government has infringed upon the rights of the American people when it comes to this topic.
Core values define who people are, what they believe in, and how they live their lives. Many core values shape people. Three to five core values that describe Americans today would be freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equality, diversity, and unity. Freedom of speech has affected advertising because it allows people to display and talk about whatever they want including things that are provocative. An example would be the marketing of KY gel and Viagra on television. Many commercials show couples in bed, and for me, when I was younger, I didn’t see displays as often as I do now. Freedom of speech is being free and open to discuss ideas and issues at any given time (Brodsky & McIlrath, 2001).
Individualism and equality are two of America’s core values. These core values are the standards by which every American uses to distinguish what behavior are acceptable and what is not in the society in which we live in. It is these two values that our responsible for molding our personalities as well as our behaviors. I believe out of all the values the United States possess, individualism and equality are the two most important values to follow.
Often, people get carried away with order since it is easily obtained and kept. However, for our welfare, we must give up freedom and embrace order. Since 2009, the government “captured and retained the contents of nearly all emails, text messages, telephone calls, bank statements, utility bills and credit card bills of all Americans.”(Napolitano 1) This approach helps keep our country safe and running, but we must sacrifice our privacy for it. As said by Stephen King, “No one likes to see a government folder with his name on it.” This method of protection is not ideal since there is clearly too much order involved, but it is needed since our country would not be able to function without
The attacks on American soil that solemn day of September 11, 2001, ignited a quarrel that the grade of singular privacy, need not be given away in the hunt of grander security. The security measures in place were planned to protect our democracy and its liberties yet, they are merely eroding the very existence with the start of a socialistic paradigm. Benjamin Franklin (1759), warned more than two centuries ago: “they that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Implementing security measures comes at a cost both economically and socially. Government bureaucrats can and will utilize information for personal political objectives. The Supreme Court is the final arbitrator
In ethics there are five basic principles and they are the value of life principle, the principle of goodness or rightness, the principle of justice or fairness, the principle of truth telling or honesty, and the principle of individual freedom. These principles can apply to many things, but when it comes to the United States following them this is how they are applied.
1984, a novel by George Orwell, represents a dystopian society in which the people of Oceania are surveilled by the government almost all the time and have no freedoms. Today, citizens of the United States and other countries are watched in a similar way. Though different technological and personal ways of keeping watch on society than 1984, today’s government is also able to monitor most aspects of the people’s life. 1984 might be a dystopian society, but today’s condition seems to be moving towards that controlling state, where the citizens are surveilled by the government at all times.
There are those who would confront the government while there are many who would rely on them. Knowing that they are constructed to serve the people with protection from any kind, by gathering information via their phones, without consent. This strategy can be considered a way to protect citizens from threats, even foreign suspects. The novel 1984 has somewhat an accurate connection to what citizens live throughout now in days. Citizens can conduct their own choices but are taken by the idea of being watched and not seeing reality as making a change. Currently the U.S has surpass George Orwell's imagination with the use of data collection.
Privacy is something that is valuable, and gives trust to both sides. Everyone is endowed with some degree of privacy, right? The debate of the topic privacy versus security has been going on for a while. Most people believe privacy is more important, giving people the chance to be relaxed without anyone watching them, literally or figuratively speaking. Governments believe that security is more important, claiming it will help with terrorism and lower the crime rate. If we allow this to happen, then as an example, the government could monitor our phones conversations, what websites we visit, the games or programs we download, even where we go throughout our day by tracking us on the GPS unit in our smartphones.