PATRIOT ACT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PATRIOT ACT - Essay Example "The USA Patriot Act's provisions for certification and mandatory detention contravene the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of due process of law" (2002, p. 1419). Patriotism needs memories. They are a continuous source of inspiration and an invincible bastion: even the harshest oppression cannot deprive a people of its memories. The most precious memories are those of peoples who loved their country and their fellows with a noble love; not with national vain gloriousness or narrow parochialism. The idea of the Patriot Act is that parents must tell their children stories of patriotism not to nurture national pride but love of liberty (Cassella 2002). The Patriot Act is seen as an energetic resolve to resist oppression. Whether it comes from denial of political rights or from social oppression, exclusion is incompatible with the principle of the republic. Since it has to be a community sustained by bonds of fellowship and love, the state and the government must assure everyone the dignity that comes from citizenship and the respect and self-respect that education and labor assure. The Country is the idea which rises upon that foundation; it is the sentiment of love, the sense of fellowship which binds together all the sons of that territory. The Patriot act inspires true love for the Country. True love of country is an 'immense love' immune to prejudices and inspired by thoughts of unity and peace. It is a passion that animates and inflames generous souls who cannot stand their country's corruption and enslavement. While their fellows cry and suffer in silence, they speak up. They foresee their country's bleak future and share their fellows' needs, anxieties, and hopes. They do not share their vices and weaknesses. Like ancient prophets, they do not speak out of irrational fury or offended pride but out of indignation. They say unpleasant things to their fellows; they denounce their faults and enumerate their responsibilities to call them to action. Reproach is not intended to humiliate, nor to emphasize the patriot's moral superiority, but to elevate the soul of his own people, with which he wants to work (The USA-PATRIOT Act and the American Response 2002). The main disadvantages of the Patriot Act are privacy violations, surveillance and information sharing, increased Governmental Secrecy, not targeted on terrorism. "The USA PATRIOT Act contains a number of provisions that may be used by federal law enforcement authorities to seize and forfeit the assets of terrorist organizations, assets that are derived from terrorist acts, and assets that are intended to be used to commit terrorist acts in the future" (Cassella 2002, p. 7). To some extent, love of country presses us to feel the oppression that some of our fellows endure as an outrage. Oppression may take the form of the denial of civil and political rights or exploitation, brutality, contempt for human dignity in workplaces and social life; the victims may be adult, old or young, male or female; the patriot reacts with particular passion to the sufferings of his fellows: he feels not just compassion but indignation, and indignation gives him the motivation to change. Indignation aga inst and hatred of the oppressor drive the