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Essay On Personal Privacy And National Security

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In 1942, policy makers of the United States, triggered by the event of Pearl Harbor and faced with an increasingly daunting threat from the east, made a fateful decision to confine 120 thousand Japanese American citizens in internment camps. This displaced thousands of families and created an anti-Japanese sentiment that would persist in America for years to come. While truly horrific, some will say this injustice was due to the largely circumstantial factual errors and misplaced suspicion which drove this decision. However, passing this event off as unique creates the disillusion that America will never again be faced with a similar situation. Consider that our government leaders have the ongoing task of handling formidable threats, in many…show more content…
This is a false trade. Furthermore, when a nation seeks to protect its security by violating its core values, the outcome erodes its principles and the quality of life for all constituents. While threats, notably terroristic ones, may create valid cause for concern and fear, there exists the risk of overreaction, resulting in misguided rash decisions in the “crisis” of the moment. This is especially true when politics come into play. Any policy that enables an easy-override of an individual’s right to privacy would only serve to heighten the possibility of overreactions, including tragic decisions driven by fear and prejudice. The loss of our right to privacy would deliver a victory to terrorists, with no guarantee of security. Therefore, as a policy maker I would resist enacting rules that would readily subvert our basic rights, including that of privacy, in order to protect our national security from real or speculated threats. In the position as policy maker, I would seek to navigate this grey area, giving weight to the protection of the rights of the individual on which our nation was founded. (350
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