A Means to Justify the End

A Means to Justify the End

How would you feel if you learned the government is watching you through your phone?  Guess what, they are.  The government is constantly monitoring and collecting your information through your devices.  The phone calls you thought were private; the NSA is tapping in and collecting them.  The government is committing a severe violation of our rights and privacy.  As a bastion of democracy and freedom, the United States should not be facing this issue.  Although the surveillance state isn’t an immediate danger, currently. It opens the floodgates to severe abuses of power later down the line.  Now how did we get here?  

Surveillance has existed as long as civilization and has varied drastically over time and from society to society.  The revolution in technology has certainly helped surveillance become an easier and more anonymous endeavor.  But surveillance to today's level has one catalyst that it  can be tied to, the September 11 Attacks.  9/11 traumatized and scared Americans deeply.  Terrorists were capable of conspiring and orchestrating a nationwide act of terrorism without major detection until the day of the attack.  This fact compiled with the event itself led to many Americans calling for expanding national security organizations and even surveillance.  A little after the attack, Congress passed the Patriot Act, which allowed for increased NSA surveillance, wiretapping, and data collection.  The event rallied Americans in support of different methods to protect their nation, even ones that limited their rights and privileges.  The expansion of the surveillance state since reaffirms the status quo fear that the Western system is threatened.  The threat is itself.  The governments of the people now are watching and monitoring them.  With government surveillance of people and collecting information, the government can know what people are thinking and suppress it if they desire.  Disagreement with the government or its ideology could be written as treason or a threat to national security.  The government's ability provides the foundation for a very Orwellian and autocratic oppressive system to arise. 

The government is using national security to defend its current surveillance program.  This goes into a balance that every society has to deal with constantly, the balance between freedom and security.  Traditionally, times of conflict and war lead to freedoms being limited for the sake of security. An example of this was the USA Patriot Act.  The Patriot Act was passed 45 days after 9/11.  The pressure from the attacks motivated people in government take drastic action.  Immediately calls from the Executive Branch came pushing Congress to pass extensive counterterrorism legislation, the Patriot Act was one of these.  This act drastically expanded government surveillance and monitoring powers over its citizens.  This intrusion was defended under the grounds that the “Patriot Act was meant to help deter future terrorist attacks” (Mineshima-Lowe).  This returns to the balance between security and freedom.  

The national government chose to expand power to strengthen security.  However, this defense is only partial in validity.  The U.N. Human Rights Council has stated that “In the pursuit of legitimate national security interests, governments are entitled to gather and protect certain sensitive information, as well as to restrict access of the public to certain information;" however, "serious concerns are raised over the potential for national security overreach, without adequate safeguards to protect against abuse” (Leithauser).  This illustrates that national security and surveillance are not necessarily dangerous in nature. However, if unchecked, they can become abusive or lead to abusive leadership.  This concern has not changed the sentiment of many government officials who choose a means to justify the end approach. George Bush once stated, 

The terrorists have not lost the will or the ability to attack us.  The Patriot Act is vital to the war on terror and defending our citizens against a ruthless enemy.  This bill will allow our law enforcement officials to continue to use the same tools against terrorists that are already used against drug dealers and other criminals, while safeguarding the civil liberties of the American people (Preserving Life & Liberty).

This represents the sentiment the government has regarding the issue of surveillance and expanding government control.  The government values the prevention of terrorism and the repeating of the past.  However, what the government does not realize is this unprecedented expansion has the potential to be abused and warped into oppression of the citizenry.  In the words of the ACLU, “In the wake of 9/11, our government irresponsibly expanded our surveillance authorities, ignoring the extent to which they infringed on our constitutional rights” (Guliani, et al).  The government inadvertently infringed citizens’ rights and now that America screams for reform and “when there is bipartisan agreement that our laws have simply gone too far, Congress should not succumb to groundless arguments that common-sense reforms to Section 702 would jeopardize our national security” (Guliani, et al).  It’s an unending cycle; the government uses security and stability to defend its programs but does not see their dangers to liberty and freedom. 

The government has extensively expanded its surveillance powers at the expense of individual rights.  This has led to a larger quantity of whistleblowers in government than before.  Whistleblowers are not unbeneficial or negative in effect traditionally.  However, the type of whistleblowing and environment that has spawned recently is concerning.  For example, “according to the SEC Office of Whistleblower statistics, the agency received a 76 percent increase in whistleblower tips over FY 2020” (Magee).  This illustrates that there has been a growth and expansion of whistleblowers in government.  Some of these people, having a bird's eye view into the government, have been compelled to expose the problems, such as Edward Snowden.  These leaks both reveal the scary truth of government surveillance but also additionally weaken the US by giving the perception that security-threatening leaks are the only way to keep the government in check.  Whistleblowers like Snowden reveal several concerning facts about the situation society is in today.  Snowden has pointed out that “Under observation, we act less free, which means we effectively are less free” (Under Observation, We Act Less Free, Which Means We Effectively Are Less Free. - Edward Snowden).  Although Snowden’s existence is concerning with respect to the security and integrity of the nation, Snowden points out the concerning nature of the government and reveals his ideology.  His ideology is seeking freedom and liberty.  What he discovered in his tenure working for the government concerned him and drove him to take drastic steps.  The existence of these kinds of whistleblowers makes the government turn increasingly less transparent with people and more internalized.  This disconnects the government from the people, which creates a dangerous environment.  The government becomes increasingly more internal and less revealing, which allows for a dangerously shrouded governmental system where the people aren’t aware of their governments' true nature.  The New Yorker points out, “Whistle-blowing, at least by that breezy name, is on the rise…  ‘This is the age of the whistleblower,’ Mueller observes” (Lepore).  We are living in a whistleblower society where people lack trust and security in the government.  In many ways, the government’s limitations on people’s rights with surveillance and beyond is the reason for this environment.  This whistleblower environment and lack of trust only destabilize the government and makes it turn inward.  The surveillance state in the United States has been codified into law by Congress.  The most notable example of this is the USA Patriot Act.  The act “was passed just 45 days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001.  The act [gave] federal officials sweeping and expanded authority to track and intercept communications for law enforcement and intelligence-gathering purposes” (Mineshima-Lowe).  Additionally, “it [provided] law enforcement with investigatory tools for the purpose of deterring and punishing acts of terrorism within the United States and abroad” (Mineshima-Lowe).  This was the greatest expansion of US surveillance power until that point.  It was “met initially with strong support” but “has since garnered criticism on the grounds that, in the fight against terrorism, it treads heavily on citizens’ civil liberties and First Amendment rights” (Mineshima-Lowe).  The act created a deep expansion into peoples’ everyday lives.  The ramifications of it eventually built up; however, the act was never truly removed.  

Even after the NSA caved after the Snowden leak, the subsequent USA Freedom Act still gave them the power to collect citizens' data.  The USA Freedom Act was the follow-up to when the Patriot Act came up for renewal.  The government partially caved and ceded some of its surveillance power (particularly the third-party data storing revealed in the Snowden leak).  However, although the USA Freedom Act is a lesser intrusion than its predecessor, the government has found other ways to increase surveillance. For example,

In 2015, the USA Freedom Act amended many of the provisions of the FISA, limiting the government’s data collection and declassifying some FISA Court opinions.  However, the act also extended certain controversial provisions of the Patriot Act, including the roving wiretap provisions, which allow continued surveillance of a target even if that target changes communications devices, and the lone wolf surveillance authority, which allows the surveillance of non-U.S. citizens acting without direction from a foreign party (Crawford and Edwards).  

Additionally, under the Trump administration, the government expanded government powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.  Interestingly the expansion is being used to spy on Americans solely for domestic criminal matters.  This is illustrated when, “the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017 extended FISA Section 702 until December 31, 2023, adding only a few new restrictions and allowing the NSA to continue to surveil foreigners and gain incidental information on Americans without a warrant” (Crawford and Edwards).  Although, the Patriot Act may be no more, the surveillance state remains.  This surveillance state in America has definitely fluctuated since its conception; however, it has prevailed.  Although more recent acts have been less aggressive, the expansive surveillance power of the government has remained.  The power may be a violation of liberty and even unconstitutional, but Congress and the Executive branch have continually codified the power into law.  This paints the American status quo in a very Orwellian light.

 “In the far distance, a helicopter skimmed down between the roofs, hovered for an instant like a bluebottle, and darted away again with a curving flight. It was the police patrol, snooping into people's windows. The patrols did not matter, however. Only the Thought Police mattered” (Orwell 2).  In the Western world today, people cannot understand this quote in full.  In 1984, a man like Winston lived in a world where rebellion is futile.  Everyone understands and can contain themselves from outward rebelliousness.  Even in Western society today, most people understand that doing something openly illegal near law enforcement is futile.  But, the second part many do not understand ultimately.  Oceania is far from Western civilization today, but there are other nations still fresh in the pages of history.  Nazi Germany and the USSR are both prime examples.  It was not the normal law enforcement that they feared; it was when they were in places of comfort, their home, or with their family.  Places where they could be themselves, there is where the secret police, Gestapo or KGB, who monitored them, attacked.  It is the surveillance of people, their minds, thoughts, and actions.  In a place where they think they are not watched, that is where the government surveils them.  1984 and the Reich are two extreme examples of monitoring and surveillance, but they didn’t start that way.  They started with growing government control.  That is the concern that arises from 1984 today.

The surveillance state in America today could truly have been spawned out of benevolence.  But, in the ideology of Orwell, those that seek power will obtain it and continue to gain it until they are stopped.  In our world, Hitler and Stalin did this until it became their undoing.  The state of surveillance in America opens the door to oppression.  Whether the dangers of it present themselves now or in the future, they still remain.  And when the safeguards of our freedom are eroded away, it gives an advantage to those who desire power.  And the gates of democracy crumble into autocracy and totalitarianism.  America today shows the advancement of Orwell’s fears.  The power of the government to monitor its people and their lives is dangerous.  Orwell’s fears come to fruition through this reality.  The monitoring of today may not give immediate harm, but the power itself could be warped into control and suppression of individuality.  It could lead to an America where the government watches its people and cracks down on anything not fitting its ideology.  Ultimately, the government has increased its surveillance of our lives through technology.  This power to spy on its citizens has only grown as technology has.  The government will never admit to the true nature of surveillance and will always use national security as an excuse.  Let’s ask the question, if they can look into your life through your phone, what stops them from controlling your life and thoughts?  Let’s not let that happen.

Work Cited 

Crawford, Neta, and Graves, Lisa, “Surveillance.” The Costs of War, https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/social/rights/surveillance. Accessed 06 Jan. 2023. 

Guliani, Neema, et al, “The Government Is Abusing Its Surveillance Powers. Don't Believe Those Who Say Otherwise.: News & Commentary.” American Civil Liberties Union, 29 Aug. 2022, https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/government-abusing-its-surveillance-powers-dont. Accessed 05 Jan. 2023.

Magee, Jessica “Exponential Growth in SEC Whistleblower Program: A Sign of Things to Come for FY 2022: Insights.” Holland & Knight, https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2022/01/exponential-growth-in-sec-whistleblower-program#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20SEC%20Office,misconduct%2C%20and%20purported%20offering%20frauds. Accessed 05 Jan. 2023.

Mineshima-Lowe, Dale (Updated July 2019 by Deborah Fisher). “USA PATRIOT Act of 2001.” USA Patriot Act of 2001, https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1096/usa-patriot-act-of-2001#:~:text=The%20USA%20Patriot%20Act%20of,enforcement%20and%20intelligence%2Dgathering%20purposes. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.

Leithauser, Tom. "U.N. Human Rights Council Eyes Balance of Government Surveillance, Privacy." Cybersecurity Policy Report, 23 Sept. 2013, pp. 11+. Gale General OneFile, link-gale-w9ba.orc.scoolaid.net/apps/doc/A367964577/ITOF?u=nysl_li_harb&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e637a2aa. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.  

Lepore, Jill. “Review: Edward Snowden and the Rise of Whistle-Blower Culture in ‘Permanent Record.’” The New Yorker, 16 Sept. 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/23/edward-snowden-and-the-rise-of-whistle-blower-culture. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.

“Preserving Life & Liberty.” Life and Liberty Archive, https://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/archive.htm. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.

Orwell, George, et al. 1984: A Novel. Signet Classics, 2007. 

“Under Observation, We Act Less Free, Which Means We Effectively Are Less Free. - Edward Snowden.” Under Observation, We Act Less Free, Which Means We Effectively Are Less Free. Edward Snowden, https://www.quotemaster.org/q3e22db87378fb9d1380f9a462027e19c. Accessed 22 Dec. 2022.