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Prompt: What is the relationship between the government and the individual as described by Zara Gelsey in "Who's Reading Over Your Shoulder?" Read both [|The Declaration of Independence] and [|The Bill of Rights]. Discuss the implications for individual freedoms within our society as are implied by these documents.

The relationship between the government and the individuals is that the government's job is to protect the people, but in order to protect the people the individuals must be willing to compromise some of their freedoms and rights. **The governments job is to protect the individuals, but this does not give the government the right to violate the individuals freedoms and rights; it's the individuals own choice if they decide to compromise their freedoms and rights.**

--"Yes, we want protection from terrorist and we want our government to root out those who intend to harm us. But surveillance always spreads beyond it's original purpose"

~//In "Who's Reading Over Your Shoulder?" we see that some of an individual's freedoms are compromised, such as the freedom of expression. But even though it's supposed to be for the safety of the individuals we The Declaration of Independece serves as proof of what happens when an individuals freedoms are compromised, the people revolt.// --"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." --"First amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end. The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought." (Supreme Court Justice Kennedy)

~//The Bill of Rights// shows that the fourth amendment is violated by the Patriot Act explained in "Who's reading over your shoulder?". The Patriot Act means that "the FBI doesn't have to demonstrate probable cause of criminal activity to request records and other files." but in contrast the fourth amendment states,"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

~//The Patriot Act was passed in order to protect Americans and as we saw it violates the fourth amendment but no matter the reason for which the Act was passed the FBI shouldn't be able to accuse an individual of being a terrorist based on what the person reads or researches becasue it only tells so much about a person.// --"What you read does say something about your interests, but it may say different things to different people." --"A person who reads a book intending to make a bomb could be a suspect, as could anyone doing research on terrorist bombings in order to prevent them."

--"The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought."

~//Yes, the governments job is to protect the individuals but when they start treating those they're supposed to protect as suspects then that's where the problem between the government and the individuals begins. If the FBI has probable cause for checking the background of an individual and they have a warrant for the search then it's fine but to search an individual who has done nothing suspicious or wrong then the FBI has no right to search them.// --"The FBi is policing our minds by purporting to read them. Of course we want to be kept safe, but not to the extent that we ourselves are patrolled and treated as suspects. Giving up privacy rights can't guarantee physical safety, but it will almost certainly inhibit intellectual freedom and limit cognitive liberty."

//~What are the motives behind these actions made by the government? It is the government’s job to protect us as much as they possibly can without compromising our rights. The reason they are taking these actions is because they want to make sure that they themselves don’t get attacked. When 911 hit the people that high jacked the planes were going to crash into the Pentagon. These fears are real, but the question is should they compromise our rights for protection for us and the government?

JMartinez KVargas//