Anyway, for my first post, I want to discuss a certain topic from Chapter 1 in the textbook. As a whole, Chapter 1 describes the beginnings of the American government as well as the basic characteristics that form the foundation of what makes up our government today. The section I wanted to talk about today is the section that states and explains the functions of American government. In the textbook, there are five specific functions that the government should be able to enforce:
- Establishing Justice
- Insuring Domestic Tranquility
- Providing for the Common Defense
- Promoting the General Welfare
- Securing the Blessings of Liberty
Out of these five functions, I want to go a bit deeper into the "Insuring Domestic Tranquility" function. The textbook talks about how our government has taken "extraordinary" measures during times of crisis, such as during and after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, in order to contain the threat of terrorism within the United States as well as abroad. During this time, the Department of Homeland Security was formed and legislation that allowed the government to have nearly unlimited power when it comes to weeding out potential threats was passed in order to make sure the United States had peace within its borders. When I read this section in the book, I immediately thought of the controversial Patriot Act that was signed into law on October 26, 2001. I decided that I wanted to research this act more and figure out what exactly made this a controversial bill.
From my research, I discovered quite a few aspects of the act that put together, made this a very controversial situation. First, people who were against the act voiced their anger at how fast the act was passed after the September 11 attacks. Opponents believe that the Patriot Act was passed opportunistically after the attacks in order to get by without much debate. In my opinion, I think the opponents were kinda wrong. I feel that in order to ease the panic throughout the country (the US was also dealing with Anthrax attacks a couple of weeks after the 9/11 attacks), Congress had to work together to make a quick and effective response to ensure the American people that the country can bounce back and get stronger.
One other major controversy the Patriot Act created involved the invasion of peoples' privacies. Since the Patriot Act allows the government to research potential threats in depth without too many rules in their way, citizens have become concerned that "Big Brother" may be using their powers to intrude into their private lives. For example, the use of wiretaps without the consent of the citizens is technically an invasion of privacy in my opinion. In addition, the use of "Sneak-and-Peek" warrants, which authorize officers to enter private properties without the owner's permission or knowledge, is honestly a pretty bad provision of the Patriot Act, and definitely an invasion of privacy. However, I think these provisions can definitely be used for good if the officers who use them actually have legitimate evidence to further investigate a potential threat. Overall, I feel that it is really a moral decision law enforcement officers have to make whether or not to use the provisions of the Patriot Act in the correct, honest way.
Overall, this section from Chapter 1 definitely got me thinking deeply about our government and the actions that they take in order to try and make our country the best it can be. Hopefully the following chapters in the textbook can provide equal and even deeper ideas to think and research about!
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