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E-mail StoryAre we safer since Sept. 11?
SOUNDING BOARD
| Thursday, Jul 3 2008 7:11 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 3 2008 7:16 PM
Since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, government agencies have been given greater surveillance powers. Some Americans claim too many of their "rights" have been traded to "insure" their safety.
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The Californian asked members of its Opinion section Sounding Board if they believe this to be true. Are we safer today? Has it been worth the price?
Some of their responses follow:
The only people who should be worried about their "rights" being violated because of increased surveillance powers afforded our nation's law enforcement agencies are those who have something to hide. What price can be put on the safety of the people in America?
If we expect our government to do whatever it takes to help ensure our safety in this country, we must give them the flexibility to gather intelligence in any form they can and then the ability to act on it. Where once our enemies were readily identifiable, today they are not. The enemy could be living within our community, plotting our destruction. My right to life trumps my right to total privacy.
Carolyn Belli of Bakersfield is a retired Kern County employee.
I don't think we are any safer today than we were 10 years ago. I tend to agree with those who feel our rights have been traded to insure safety. This has happened in the past during the Civil War with the suspension of habeas corpus by President Lincoln; during World War II with the imprisonment of Japanese-Americans.
This is exactly what the terrorists want to happen: reduce our individual rights and a instill fear. Remember the wisdom of our founding fathers and maintain the liberties that make the United States such a unique place. We also must remember these liberties require personal responsibility.
Jim Francisco of Bakersfield is a district trainer for a pharmaceutical company.
We probably are safer and I am not sure the government has taken away anything I would not gladly volunteer in the name of safety. People who feel they have things to hide fear surveillance. On the other hand, if the government began telling me how to live my life "in the name of security," it might foster a different response.
Paul Lewis of Bakersfield is a nurse at North Kern State Prison.
The hysteria about government surveillance almost makes me hysterical. Are the people who have these concerns living in a cave? Have they never used the Internet, a credit card, answered a survey, paid taxes, been in a hospital or bought anything costing more than $500?
There is so much information available on each of us from so many sources that the government is wasting our money adding additional methods. I really don't care what the government knows about me. I really want them to have information on individuals or groups that could cause us harm.
Karen Wass of Arvin is a retired real estate broker.
Benjamin Franklin observed those who would give up liberty to receive security deserve neither. Possibly this is a view that is too narrow and naïve in a post-9/11 world.
However, I am uncomfortable with broad powers being granted, such as those contained in the first Patriot Act. The "sneak and peek" provisions are too open-ended and allow for potential abuse without oversight. But, as history has shown, the pendulum of justice will swing back, as it did in the 1950s, ushering in the era of civil liberties expansion in the 1960s.
Terri Richmond of Bakersfield is a high school teacher.
I am not worried about government surveillance. If they want to listen in on my phone conversations or read my e-mails, I have nothing to hide. But they aren't interested in me or what I communicate. I am confident that the powers they have are directed at communications from countries and individuals where there is real suspicion. I don't think anyone is interested in what I say.
Bob Hawkes of Bakersfield is a business consultant.
I have become very concerned about what has become a much more intrusive government into the private lives of its citizens.
Sheryl Barbich of Bakersfield is a business consultant.
We are not significantly safer than we were seven years ago, and we have traded a lot of freedom for it. Consider airline security. Where else in the world does an 80-year-old grandma have to remove her shoes and carry all her lotions and potions in a one-quart plastic bag to prove she's not a terrorist?
The rent-a-cops now are federal employees, but the duty is still mind-numbingly boring. As a result, they are doing a poor job. Our security depends as much today as ever on voluntary compliance by people who were not going to do any harm anyway.
Fred Valenzano of Bakersfield is an engineer with a local consulting company.
I'd rather have my rights traded than taken away from me permanently due to my death at the hands of some deranged individual. My life and the lives of my family and friends are priceless. It has been worth the price!
Darlyn Baker of Bakersfield is a nurse and co-owner of Interim Health/Care.
Some of the safety measures and how the Bush administration justified using surveillance powers seem a bit Draconian. I can't help but think "probable cause" would be the best way to probe further into a person's background, rather than carte blanche using the powers on everyone. I don't think the world is safer today. The mess in Iraq has made the world less safe.
Kathy Van Reusen of Bakersfield is health educator.
If you aren't mixed up in something illegal, you shouldn't care if the government has surveillance powers. I'd rather be "surveilled" than let some terrorist plan an attack over AT&T or the Internet. I actually do feel safer knowing that the government is trying to stop some of the illegal traffic on the Internet or telephone lines. Obviously, we have to institute stepped-up security measures because there are terrorists out there who would love to blow us off the face of the earth.
Caroline Reid of Bakersfield is a retired executive secretary.
Taking the right of privacy away from even one American is not worth the questionable increase in security it would produce. America has always been a model to the rest of the world for the singular rights and privileges it bestows on its citizens. Therefore, it's hypocritical for America to employ the same methods of intelligence gathering for which it denounces in its enemies.
Audrey Baker retired after a career with the Panama-Buena Vista School District.
Some Americans should wake up and smell the roses. Again, the administration seems to get no credit for the fact that since 9/11 we have not experienced another horrific loss. Does anyone ever stop to think of all the work going on behind the scenes to keep us safe while not raising fear levels? I, for one, have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. If an overheard phone call keeps my family safe and alive, it's a fair trade, indeed!
Neil Walker of Bakersfield is the human relations director of a local refinery.
I have never felt the government was an intrusive power. Freedom is not free and all citizens are called upon to give up certain individual rights. The 3,000 people killed on 9/11 would gladly have supported the Patriot Act had 20/20 hindsight been available.
The "government" is people and if citizens do not feel the people they elect are worthy of their trust, then they should use the power of the ballot box to remove them. There is no way to insure America will never be attacked again, but I support the measures enacted since 9/11 because there has not been an attack since they were enacted.
Helen Jo Venosdel of Bakersfield is a retired junior high school teacher.
It is definitely not worth the price. Any government that feels it needs to spy on its people to protect its people has taken the first step toward totalitarianism. This kind of means to justify an end leads inevitably to a world of distrust and hatred.
Peter Kjenaas of Frazier Park is president of Cartwright Entertainment Inc.
The growth of greater surveillance is a result of advanced technology. Throughout history we have learned that the public has probably always been under some type of scrutiny. GPS devices and on-board computers in vehicles are just a few examples regularly cited as the next intrusion.
Lou Leto of Bakersfield is a business consultant.