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Has the war on terrorism become a war on Americans' civil rights? Just 45 days after the attacks of 9/11, the Patriot act was passed with little debate. It slowly works its way into our system like a virus and suspends our certain civil liberties, including privacy rights. Taken along with the many other invasions of our privacy in the Patriot Act, we are indeed headed toward a society, depicted in the book, 1984.
George Orwell's 1984 spotlights many issues about an individual's right to privacy and about how public opinion is manipulated. When President Bush signed the legislation into a law, I had no doubt that we must be persistent in protecting our citizens from another terrorist attack; however, the threat of terrorism should not be used as an excuse for the government to encroach on our most cherished civil rights. Today, federal authorities are able to track all the books people buy; all the Web sites people visit; all the e-mail people send. Orwell adequately illustrates the situation with an appropriate phrase, “Big Brother Is Watching You.” (2) Big Brother in the book is the symbol and the power of the country, Oceania. He appears everywhere, and seems to observe everybody through telescreens; however, nobody really knows his identity, or even his existence. Corresponding to Big Brother, our government monitors us every second with the new policy, the Patriot Act, and we do not know exactly who is watching us, or know that we are even being watched. As someone said during the debate, the right to read or obtain knowledge without the fear of government surveillance is the foundation of our democracy. Open and democratic debate will be impossible without free and open access to diverse views and a broad array of information. Orwell also refers four ministries to a corrupt government, which reflects in our own government. The Ministry of Truth oversees the distribution of propaganda and other printed materials; the Ministry of Peace deals with...