Open Your Eyes

036.92
036.92
Jul 23, 2017 · 6 min read

Open your eyes. If I could say one thing that everyone in the nation, the world really, would hear, it would be that, “Open your eyes.” Nothing more, nothing less. In the past 17 years, Americans have been losing more and more freedoms. From the first amendment freedom of speech, to the fourth amendment which requires warrants, the rest of them, too. It didn’t really start small, or quietly either. It was pushed by the “need to stop terrorists” after the bang of the September 11 attacks. The Patriot Act, it was so called. This act, to protect America, and keep it a safe and “free” country, allowed the government to spy on American citizens without warrant or much oversight. All that was needed was a belief that you might be a terrorist. Through this they could seize any tangible “evidence” that might show you to be a terrorist, without a warrant of course. This directly goes against the US constitution, where the fourth amendment requires a warrant be used to conduct surveillance or seize ones affects or properties, or even detain someone. While the Patriot Act did sunset in 2015, it allowed the NSA to collect bulk data, “Meta Data”, on American citizens who were somehow linked to terrorists, no matter how indirectly. Some people would defend this by saying that they only looked at things that were flagged as terrorist related, and that they didn’t have enough time to go through all of the data, but this program, collected the data, which in this surveillance state, means they know everything about you, they know you better then you know yourself, and they can use that against you. And why should we believe they stopped collecting the data, or destroyed the data they had already collected after it was supposed to be stopped? They broke our trust long ago.

The Patriot Act was replaced by the Freedom Act the day after it expired. While the freedom act helped end some programs, it only limited others, such as the NSA’s collection of phone meta data. It also extended provisions for wire tapping, the infamous section 215, and the lone wolf provision. Section 215 forces companies to give the government records that are asked for if they might have links to terrorism. As Apple found out after San Bernardino. Apple and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court fought over whether or not American’s constitutional rights matter. The FISA court is basically America’s not-so-secret court that abuses its unconstitutional powers to force companies to give information to the government without telling their customers. After the Freedom Act was passed, it was required to publicize its opinions related to terrorism. Apple was told they had to do what they were told, or there would be consequences. The government was breaking several constitutional amendments, without any fear of the consequences they should face when they do. Consequences enforced by the people. A people that has become complacent, due to the governments deception.

America is becoming a surveillance state, it’s already there in fact. In 2016, president Obama made one of his final actions to be signing over control of the internet to the UN, where people like China and Iran can control it. The internet is no longer safe, all because it left the “safety” of the US constitution, where it could not be censured, where the first amendment stood and still held some sway. Now it can be censured, and legally, and the US can’t do a thing about it, and how would we know if it were, the information is gone. The point of not having information censured is to allow people to make their own opinions, and from those opinions, decide for themselves what is fact and what if fiction. With all of the sides shown to us, we can decide how we truly want to live. Why should we let anyone else tell us what is right and wrong? Why should we trust them? What makes them so different from us? However, with censorship, we are force fed what to think, how to act, what is right, what is wrong. Nothing is our decision anymore, it is the surveillance states opinions and decisions. The constitution doesn’t even matter under such a government, a government willing to give up the rights of its citizens to decide for themselves.

The US Constitution

The constitution, sure, it’s important to American society, but what is it really? How can it protect you and your rights? I’m sorry to be to blunt, but It can’t, it’s just a 300-year-old piece of paper that a bunch of people signed. It is a set of rules for the government to follow. But who enforces it? It is supposed to be the people, but the government has put the illusion into the people’s minds that they are powerless, and only the rich, the politicians, the public figures can do anything, can decide how you act, how you live. They would be very wrong. When the people open their eyes, they might not like what they see, and a government is not a government without its people. Tyrants only stood as long as the people let them. The moment the people got sick of them, they were overthrown. The American Revolution is an example of this. I am not calling for a revolution, I am just asking that you, the people, open your eyes, wake up, see that those who claim to govern us are to greedy for power, and that they are destroying the American way of life, our freedoms, everything we stand for, everything we fight for. Stop spending so much time with your phones and other such items and wake up, look at everything that is going on around you, see that the government sees themselves as your rulers, not your servants as they should be. Politicians are not elected to office to gain more power and rule over people, they are elected to represent the people, to serve them.

So I ask you to open your eyes, see the corruption in our government, and cut it out like any other disease. Stop voting them in, speak up, let your voice be heard. If you think you are one person, you are wrong. You represent America, you know what you need, the life you want. Stop letting the rich get richer and the poor poorer. Stop allowing the 1% to exist. Greed has no place in America. America was founded on the principles of freedom, helping others, and standing up for what is right. Today, those principles seem to have been forgotten. If you speak out, others will here you, they will support you. Sure, not everyone will agree with you, I know not everyone will agree with this, but if you stand for what is right, for your livelihood, for your freedom, what more could America ask of you. When others hear you, they too will join your voice, they too will stand for what is right, then, and only then, can we cut out the corruption in America, corruption that runs deep, that runs on greed and the very things that America stands against.

036–92

The government doesn’t care about, or follow, the constitution:

036.92

Written by

036.92

A government is nothing without its people

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade