• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

How American Democracy Has Suffered Since 9/11

by John Amaruso - June 18, 2013

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

How American Democracy Has Suffered Since 9/11

Edward Snowden’s release of classified NSA files on their surveillance program has shined light on the inner working of America’s intelligence organizations and their attempts to monitor and record the activities of American citizens. This dubious circumvention of our 1st and 4th amendment rights has civil liberty groups up in arms, meanwhile lawmakers and politicians are calling for the arrest and trial of this whistleblower. But what Snowden has done is far from criminal- what he has done is brought to light to the sobering reality that America’s government has crossed the line, and how the American government has rationalized this type of behavior in the age of digital communication. What Mr. Snowden has also done is provide a window into the intelligence community and the overwhelming fear and paranoia that grips our government over its own people. This culture of suspicion has trickled into our national conscious, shaping the world in which we live, and the world that is to come.

Homeland Security Advisory System scale American This dystopic realty has only been made possible by utilizing the aftermath of a tragic event which would have much deeper consequences than anyone could have ever predicted. It was after September 11th when America’s false sense of security was shattered by a seemingly haphazard plot by a few rogue terrorists in some far off land, under the leadership of a former C.I.A. ally, Osama Bin Laden.

The intelligence community’s lack of foresight into such matters proved to be a hard blow to the agencies involved, as well as the strength and perceived security of the U.S. government. In what I will call the ‘fog of terror’, the U.S. government took steps to make sure that such a tragedy would never happen again; more importantly though, they wanted to make sure information as serious and as threatening as the 9/11 attacks would never pass by them unnoticed again.

American Democracy Has Suffered

As the drums of war sounded off and the false justifications for the invasion of Iraq were just reaching the ears of the United Nations, many Americans were far too scared with all the talk of ‘biological war’ and ‘terror threat levels’ rising from orange to red seemingly every other day to even begin to analyze or take in what their government was doing- stripping away liberties for the sake of ‘security’. In the wake of the Iraq invasion, Americans and the world uncovered the orchestrated lies by the U.S. government, proving that the American government was less looking after the security and protection of its own people, but more looking after the ‘interests’ of the American foreign policy machine – that is, the hegemonic, long term strategic conquering of foreign lands for obscure and often frivolous economic interests which was famously embodied by the Dulles brothers when they ran the C.I.A. in the 20th century.

This policy of secrecy, deception and the dismantling of civil rights didn’t stop there. More and more people were picked up by the TSA, the DOHS, and the DOJ for seemingly inconspicuous things like having a foreign sounding name, or frequenting a place of worship deemed ‘suspicious’. This holds many more troubles than just a draconian government aspiring to be the fear that Orwell so aptly described in his book ‘1984’- the policy resonated with the American public culturally. Xenophobia and racial discrimination increased dramatically, resulting in crimes committed against people of color and Middle Eastern religions. People began to accuse others of being ‘unamerican’ for simply stating not all Muslims are extremists or that Islam was a religion of peace.

Micro Air Vehicle with attached surveillance camera
Micro Air Vehicle with attached surveillance camera

Facts became undesirable as an overzealous and wildly patriotic fever took over America. If the statistics didn’t match the talking points, they no longer were relevant- they simply became technicalities that needed some whitewashing to get over, much like the American government has done in various incidents since 9/11; most namely the Iraq war. This wild disregard for the livelihoods of their fellow Americans led America towards a path of paranoia, belligerence, and downright callous remarks and actions by both the citizenry and the political elite alike. The trickle-down effect- a nation profoundly more ignorant, more violent, and more suspicious than ever.

The extension of the USAPATRIOT Act to sanction the surveillance of hundreds of millions of people without probable cause is a reflection of the current state of affairs in American society. A society which through the advent of the internet and social media, has no real concern about their privacy, or is even confused about their privacy rights. Apps and websites like Instagram and Facebook have normalized the sharing of any and all information, no matter how inconsequential that information may seem.

But what this revelation tells us is that it doesn’t even matter if you willingly share your location, thoughts or conversations with your groups or friends- the NSA and the government at large already have unwarranted access to your daily activities, your patterns, your relationships, your conversations, and worst of all, it is all being collected and piled in a virtual sky high wealth of information, all for the sake of analysis by government officials to determine whether or not you ‘pose a threat’ to ‘national security’.

Despite people like Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden sounding the alarms on such nefarious activities, the American public and its government continue the mislead policies pursued in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, even extending and deepening them to only add onto what Edward Snowden calls the ‘architecture of oppression’. So it seems as though Hobbies and his ‘Leviathan’ have come to life.

An all powerful government which governs over a society driven by its most primal and destructive of passions; fear. But what Hobbes and the U.S. government have failed to realize is that placing our security over our freedoms and liberties puts the security of our nation at threat by its own hands. If we are to allow our government in times of instability and chaos to lock in such detrimental policies like the USAPATRIOT Act, we are going to get exactly what we are trying to fight against- the erosion of our democracy to a force hostile to liberty.

 

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: Civil Rights, Edward Snowden, George Orwell, Julian Assange and Wikileaks, Religion and Democracy, Spying and Privacy, Technology Dissidents

About John Amaruso

John Amaruso is a filmmaker and writer based in the greater New York area. His interests include politics, film, and travel. You can find his other writings on his website Mind Under Matter or by following him on Twitter @MindUnderMattr or on Facebook. John is the director of DC's documentary film "Design of a Broken System", currently filming.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | DC AUTHORS | How American Democracy Has Suffered Since 9/11

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

Harnessing The Power Of “We The People” On Independence Day

By Jenna Spinelle July 3, 2022

Democracy does not have a singular definition, which is one of the things that makes it so interesting to me — and undoubtedly to many of you.

Florida Doesn’t Need a Speech Czar

By Steve Schneider June 28, 2022

Full disclosure: I’m a liberal Democrat. So, I won’t be sending in my vote-by-mail ballot for Ron DeSantis in November. Nor will I vote for him in 2024.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

Introducing: When The People Decide

By Jenna Spinelle June 25, 2022

Several activists and average citizens have changed their communities and the country by taking important issues directly to votes.

Democracy’s Summer Blockbusters

By Jenna Spinelle June 8, 2022

The summer will be legally and politically charged particularly with the January 6 committee hearings scheduled to begin June 9.

Can American Democracy Have Nice Things?

By Jenna Spinelle June 7, 2022

Universal voting would be the surest way to protect against voter suppression and the active disenfranchisement of a large share of our citizens.

PODCAST: Baby Boomers And American Gerontocracy

By Jenna Spinelle May 23, 2022

Older and younger voters are increasingly at odds: Republicans as a whole skew gray-haired, and within the Democratis, the left-leaning youth vote.

A Dangerous Reprise Of American Exceptionalism In Ukraine

By Jamie Lampidis May 15, 2022

The stakes are too high to cave into Putin’s phantasmatic imperial play, and too high to believe that this war can be won by arming Ukrainians.

On The Coming End Of Roe v. Wade

By Peter J. Dellolio May 11, 2022

Anyone who says that the evolution of law has nothing to do with politics is either very corrupt or very stupid. Laws evolved through the centuries.

Goodbye Roe v. Wade, Goodbye Rule Of Law

By Andrew Straw May 5, 2022

Congress should impeach judges who act like that because it is not good behavior, and they were asked not to act that way when they were confirmed.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

India: Why Are Punjab Political Singers Under Attack?

India: Why Are Punjab Political Singers Under Attack?

June 8, 2022

The murder of Sidhu Moose Wala has brought attention to the link between Punjabi music and India’s cross-border criminal networks.

University Educated Less Likely To Endorse Authoritarianism

University Educated Less Likely To Endorse Authoritarianism

June 4, 2022

Higher education is now seen as a new political cleavage, with level of education increasingly important in describing political attitudes.

From Cake To Volunteers, Welcome To Australia’s Democracy Day

From Cake To Volunteers, Welcome To Australia’s Democracy Day

May 25, 2022

The atmosphere in the interstate polling booth in Sydney’s inner east resembled that of an emergency room waiting for a donor organ.

Kenyan 'Cartooning For Peace' To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

Kenyan ‘Cartooning For Peace’ To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

May 17, 2022

Cartooning is an art that has been playing a major role in illustrating stories in different ways, from health to politics, and even sports.

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers' Anxiety, Even Online

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers’ Anxiety, Even Online

May 17, 2022

Organizational leader’s tweets can influence employee anxieties and this effect is more prominent since the rise of COVID-19, study.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy