The topic of governmental surveillance was brought up earlier this year in my government class during one of our sessions of political chairs. At first, I was on the side of the room that was against the measure because the way I saw it was from a personal perspective. My argument was that I do things that I shouldn't be doing from time to time, so having cameras around to catch all my illegal actions on tape didn't seem to be very appealing to me; however, as our debate went on, I began looking at it from different perspectives. Some of the arguments that were brought up were that although cameras will catch many small crimes that are a pain in our you know whats, they also catch much more serious crimes on tape as well. Muggings, murders, kidnaps, as well as a long list of other felonies have also been caught on tape and these cameras have given hard evidence to assist in the conviction of large-scale criminals who deserve to be put in prison. From a victim's point of view, they probably are hoping that there's some type of surveillance watching them when they're being attacked, whether it be to bring help or to prosecute those responsible. By the end of the discussion, I had switched to the other side of the room.
In my opinion, we take surveillance for granted. Many say that the government just uses cameras and other methods of tracking our location to watch what we're doing and are invading our personal life, but why do you think they do that in the first place? The government watches us to protect us, not to purposely look for ways to screw us over. And more, if you have nothing to hide, then why does it matter if our government has the power to look through our phones? It's not like these people are perverts, they're supervisory officials that work for agencies that are there, specifically, to protect us and to give us a sense of safety and security. Plus, I'd bet money that you wouldn't be whining about our government tracking your cellphone if you got kidnapped and thrown into a trunk. So to everyone who's superstitious of our government, I say look at the big picture and stop getting irrational. They're here to help us, not hurt us.
I totally agree with you Jeremy. We are on the same page. There are something's that the government might do with surveillance that I dislike completely but overall it seems like they are indeed trying to help us. All those surveillance cameras that we see out in public places even though we might be under their surveillance for the time being just think about how many crimes they will catch that will be committed or how many they have caught. Crime is a big problem and much of it is committed under the radar of police. If it is true that they look into what we do with our phones then why not let them unless your hiding something. This stuff Is being done for a reason that will be beneficial for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI also had this debate in my Government class, but I started on the opposite that you started with. I agree with the point you are making when you say that the government should be allowed to have surveillance because of the many crimes that can be caught. I believe cameras should be allowed in public, because hey you're in public so no matter what there could be eyes on you all the time anyway. However, if there were a mandatory camera in my room I would be creeped out because that is invasion of privacy. Yet I loose my privacy everyday on social media, so I am totally double thinking right now. Anyway, I think there should be a line drawn to where cameras should be allowed and where they shouldn't. But the question is where should that line be drawn?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jeremy , we do take surveillance for granted. Everyone views the situation on a personal level rather than looking at it like they are trying to protect us and keep us safe. To be honest did we ever actually have "privacy" . When we sign up for any social media we are giving up our privacy and we know that. For example twitter everybody post tweets about there every move. we just type to post but once we hear about surveillance we start freaking out yet you decided to post it.
ReplyDeleteThis day in age, the technology is rapidly advancing and more people are becoming smartphone owners. This means that more people are being observed and more people are giving up they're privacy. It's something we should be prepared for. When we sign up for social media and often connect to it, it will ask us if it's okay to give access to pictures and contacts. People are easily persuaded to post things about our lives, but when the government wants to take it upon themselves to look for our data, we get angry. It's basically the same thing, so why are people being hypocritical about it? The reason is we don't know what they're going to do with the information. And frankly, we don't care. We aren't people that sit around all day and wonder what the government knows about us. We don't care. We just care what we do, and us only.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post completely Jeremy! I feel that you had a great point and that we had a great discussion at the Socratic Seminar. People truly do not understand the importance of surveillance and how it may be used to save somebody's life, just as it has before, versus the idea of it harming us. Many people do not understand this and just prefer to see the negativity of it. I'm glad we share the same beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this entire post. When you think about it surveillance isn't even that bad. From cameras we can catch cops killing young men, young girls getting kidnapped and people stealing from stores etc. First of all the government isn't just looking at our phones and messages how we think. If we give them a reason to be suspicious towards us then maybe they will, but as for all of these humans in this world it's good to have surveillance. Either way if the government stayed with surveillance or didn't have it at all people would complain. Better safe than sorry.
ReplyDeleteI defiantly would have to agree on your viewpoint. After all, this hole surveillance really started to kick in after 9/11 when we found out that terrorist were living among us for quite some time without us detecting a thing. This country is built on the main goal of the freedom of the people, so to threaten that would be to threaten every single American and i surely doubt that the government doesn't want to stir up that kind of trouble and rebellion. And speaking of every single American, there are so many of us that imagine how many people would be locked up if the government were to lock up anyone who broke the law regardless on how small it may be. Since their obviously not going to do that their just after the big guys who are a real threat to society. Lastly, I really like how you brought up the fact on how we take this all for granted. It would such to be in a third world country where no one has your back and waking up each day with fear of some sort of attack.
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