2011 Student Writing Awards Booklet - Santa Fe Community College

It was fear that caused the passing of laws which are so un-
American. It’s hard to believe a nation could so easily change beliefs that
are at its very foundation. But with eyes wide open we let the right wing
government of George W. Bush enact some of the most dangerous laws
ever created in our country. The following statement is found in “Effects
of Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Threat from Terrorism on
Restriction of Civil Liberties” by J. Christopher Cohrs, et al.
Shortly after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, laws
were passed that restrict civil liberties. For example, in the United
States the USA PATRIOT ACT, passed on October 26,2001,
facilitates surveillance and eavesdropping of political organizations,
allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation to access private medical,
financial, library, and student records without probable cause of
crime, and permits non-citizens to be jailed on mere suspicion and
without meaningful judicial review (Analyses of Social Issues and
Public Policy 263).
Welcome to the new America.This means we’ve lost most of our rights such
as individual freedom, privacy, and protection from arrest and detention.This
law should truly scare any American. But because of fear there are still people
who believe this is a necessary evil we must learn to live with.That’s
how fear can destroy our country; that’s how the terrorist will defeat us.
The article “War on Terrorism: An Overview,” by Rich, A.K.
Moreno-Riano,Gerson makes a clear point:
Many critics claim that the blow inflicted to the civil liberties of
Americans as a result of the United States ant-terror legislation has
been too high a price to pay for curbing the spread of terrorism.
In addition to the extensive wiretapping conducted by the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) various arms of the American government
have conducted questionable Interrogations of terror suspects
throughout the world (1).
Ask yourself why was this law called the Patriot Act It was at that
time that Mr. Bush said,“You are either with us are you are against us”.
This phrase conveyed the idea that if the public disagreed they were not
being patriotic. What is really amazing is that a large part of the population
went along with this idea.The general public did not even noticing
how this law threatened civil rights such as individual freedom, privacy and
opened up the possibility of any ones arrest and detention.These laws were
the beginning of an environment from which torture was born. Fear can
lead a nation down a road where it’s possible for good men and women to
give into excuses that allow horrors to be done in their names.
This land is the supposed home of the brave, the land of liberty
and justice for all. However we have let fear drive us to give up some of
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