Freedoms are tricky one, seeing as everyone has a different idea as to what that should entail. Should the government be able to violate our privacy in an effort to protect it's citizens? Homeland Security Acts allow for this. Should legislature be able to violate our religious freedoms? They have before. It's all a line to be tiptoed, delicate proceedings for everyone in power.
Last night, I stayed up till almost one in the morning, frantically trying to reach the end of the novel, Homeland by Cory Doctorow. Homeland is actually the sequel to the novel Little Brother which was published in April of 2008.
Little Brother explores what would happen if another terrorist attack occurred in the United States. Protagonist Marcus Yallow is caught in the middle of it, because of his vicinity to the attack and his reputation as a young computer hacker. Author Cory Doctorow places Marcus in a military prison where he is tortured, questioned, and eventually released after being discovered innocent. To make this synopsis short and sweet, Marcus and friends lead a tech revolution, opening a net that cannot be used to track or trace keystrokes of American citizens. The entire novel focuses on Marcus and his city's loss of rights because of their involvement of a terrorist attack-as victims.
Arguably, the story seems to offer extremes; a teenager being water boarded, computers being hacked, lack of privacy and an extreme violation of rights. But it's also happened. A little over a year ago, Congress presented a bill that intended to track the keystrokes and internet usage of American citizens. Congress was sneaky about this, keeping very little said about the bill, trying to quietly pass it without creating a huge scene. This bill changed names several times, you may know it as PIPA or SOPA. However you know it, you should know that it defied the American right to privacy. (https://www.eff.org/issues/coica-internet-censorship-and-copyright-bill)
Where is this rant coming from? It's coming from reading Homeland and then reading it's afterwards from Jacob Appelbaum and Aaron Swartz. Both of whom are connected to websites that encourage free knowledge, such as the infamous WikiLeaks and Reddit.com. (http://wikileaks.org/ http://www.demandprogress.org/)
Even in a democratic country, it's difficult at times to feel like a true part of the system. It's a little-known fact that votes are not equal, but look it up. How much is a vote in Missouri or Kansas worth compared to vote from California? Believe me, there is a difference.
But with the technology we have at our fingertips, it's become more and more possible to make a difference. We are no longer powerless or suffering from an inability to gain knowledge. There's so much right here in front of you, especially as you stare at your device connecting you to the internet. Instead of just using this powerful tool for Pinterest and Twitter, follow politics on Twitter as well. Read articles from all sorts of source, discover highly developed blogs, and educate yourself. We have all those freedoms offered to us, but they do us no good if they are not used!
American philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote that individuals should not let governments overrule them. The American government we have in place still today offers checks and balances to prevent sort a thing, but only if the American people take some sort of action. The fact that books like Little Brother and Homeland were published shows that we have so much left to still lose. But on that same notes, there are banned books all across the country. Books as naive as Sylvester and the Magic Pebble up to Clockwork Orange and classics like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
When it comes down to it, only person gets to decide what is truly good for me, one person gets to know all that I do, and judge me for it. And it is not the government under which I live.
Now, go forth! Read Little Brother or Homeland. Research banned books, PIPA, SOPA, or Homeland security. Do something, even if it's just read a banned book. But the most important freedom we have as Americans is the implied one, a freedom to learn whatever it is we can with the help of all the other freedoms we have. Use them, because believe me, we are lucky to have them.
Totus Tuus,
LeAnn
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