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CSUN ENGL 155 - Diminishment of Privacy

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Mata 1 Andres Mata Professor Overman English 155 March 29, 2007 Diminishment of Privacy There are monuments all over the world, some well-known, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Several monuments have existed for a very long time, such as the Egyptian Pyramids, while others are recent just like the many memorials composed for the 9/11 attacks. There are distinct ways that monuments have been and can be created, people can have their own point of view of what a monument is and in what manner it is supposed to be assembled. The mediums by which a monument can be made range from films and literature to sites and exhibits, but all monuments should have an objective. This objective should consist of a purpose and it should make the person think about the message that the monument is supposed to be sending. To get a better understanding of what a monument is, one should know how this word was derived. The word comes from the Latin “monere,” which means to remind or warn, therefore a monument should remind or warn the public of the concept it is presenting. An existing issue that the public should be aware of is that of the intrusion of our personal privacy. Today in this country, the civil liberty of privacy is been violated. This country is known for having plenty of liberties including the right to a fair trial, to freedom of speech, and to having privacy. The Statue of Liberty, which was proclaimed a National Monument, symbolizes the liberties that we have. The Statue of Liberty’s torch lights the way to freedomMata 2 showing us the path to Liberty (“Statue”). If there is a monument for the liberties that we have, should there not be a monument for the loss of one of our liberties? With the loss of privacy, one can feel as if one was being observed and kept under supervision all of the time. There should be a monument made to express the loss of privacy in the United States. In order to understand what liberty we have lost, it is good to know what liberties we are entitled to. The U.S. Constitution is a long and sometimes not very detailed document which gives both the government and the people their rights. At first the Constitution only stated the power that the government had over the individuals in this country, but some of the Framers of the Constitution, the people who wrote it, thought that the document gave too much power to the government and none to the individuals and thus making it seem like a totalitarianism. This resulted in the addition of the Bill of Rights, which guaranteed certain rights to the people of this country. Most of these amendments deal with civil liberties, which are defined as legally enforceable freedoms to act or not to act and to be free from unwarranted official intrusion into one’s life. These are not to be confused with civil rights which encompass participation-citizen’s rights under the law to take part in society on an equal footing with others (Bresler 71). The Amendment that helped the Supreme Court make their decision that privacy is a civil liberty is the Ninth Amendment, the Amendment states “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” This Amendment cautions that the people possess rights not specified in the U.S. Constitution (Bresler 86). Saying the government has no right under any circumstance to violate these laws. The results of the 9/11 attacks have changed the mentality and role of the federal Government. With more possible attacks on U.S. soil, the Government was forced to act quicklyMata 3 and thus making drastic moves. Within minutes of the attacks, the government increased the tapping of American’s phone calls and voice mails. They watched the internet traffic and e-mails as never before. After September 11, government agencies began gathering information collected by private companies on consumers (Meyer). With this, the government was getting closer to being able to monitor every move a person made. Then President George Bush signed the Patriot Act passed by the U.S. Congress. This document was intended to fight terrorism and so protecting this country, but according to Federal Courts, it has some unconstitutional provisions which infringe civil liberties. Then there is this Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which legally allows the government to listen to phone calls only if they have a warrant before “intentionally targeting a United States person.” Nearly a reasonable document, but it is less clear for other people in the United States. That distinction could give the U.S. Government justification for arguing that it seeks to intercept the calls of foreign terrorist and that it was not intentionally targeting a U.S. citizen (Miller). It is unclear why our liberty of privacy is not being acknowledged. The excuse the President uses to support the current intrusion of people’s privacy is that of National Security, it is necessary to have a strong counter-terrorist plan. Bush says that it is his duty to do anything within his capability to ensure the safety of the inhabitants of this country. President Bush indicates that the Constitution does not deny him the power to do what he is doing, the eavesdropping and wiretapping. He bases his statement on the idea of inherent powers, those powers that are traditionally held by the sovereign head of any nation. Examples of these powers include the ability to declare war, deal with other nations and defend the nation against attacks. The President is said to have inherent powers because of Article II Section 1Mata 4 which states, “The executive Power shall be vested in a President,” which in theory says that the President does have inherent powers. In order to prevent future attacks, the President feels the need to disrupt the privacy of people. Some people will look at the eavesdropping and wiretapping as a loss of privacy, while others just look at it as a way of keeping this country safe. Some people will argue that these acts are acceptable since they will insure them some sort of protection. While there are others that are just not willing to give up their privacy, just so the government can maintain order. The monument that I will design will reflect on the diminishment of our privacy. It will located on Liberty Island, next to the Statue of Liberty. It will be a single level building, the size of a small house and it will


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