Argumentative Essay: Should Government Surveillance

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There are many privileges we take for granted in our everyday lives, such as our personal freedom. The government impacts this personal freedom by violating it on numerous occasions through the use of security cameras. Examples of these are seen at airports, traffic lights, and neighborhoods. There are many reasons why we should think of this as problematic. I claim that we should limit government surveillance because it is a threat to our democracy, not only because it infiltrates the people’s freedom and privacy, but because the government is irresponsible on how they use their power.
To begin with, most Americans do not realize how much the government trespasses on their privacy. Some might argue government surveillance is necessary to control terrorists and harmful information exposed at the government. However, there needs to be a boundary between oppressing personal freedoms of citizens and protecting the well-being of our nation. The United States is a country that represents freedom around the world. …show more content…

Airports are highly guarded with security cameras around the facility. Anywhere and everywhere you go you can be seen through those security cameras. This is how it has always been ever since the dreaded nine eleven occurred in 2001. Because of this incident, the government has taken away some of the people’s freedom and are in deep fear of a similar event happening again. Why should our freedom be limited just because of some catastrophic event? There are times when it is appropriate to use security cameras and other times when it is not. A good example where you would use security cameras appropriately would be when trying to catch a criminal shoplifting in a store. A bad example would be the government hacking into homes and computers because they have a 1% lead on a terrorist. The government needs to distinguish when it is acceptable to use their power for the right cause, and using their power for irresponsible

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