Patriot Act Essay Example for Free

Patriot Act Essay To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, a country that is willing to sacrifice civil liberties for safety deserves neither. In the aftermath of September 11, the United States has found itself living that prophetic statement: the country is neither safe nor free. Politicians played on the fears of the American public after the terrorist attack and stole the most basic and trusted of American freedoms: the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Prior to the Patriot Act, anyone arrested by American law enforcement was guaranteed to be charged or released within 48 hours. Then, under the speedy trial provisions of the U. S. Constitution, those who were charged were guaranteed that their cases would progress. This is not so since September 11. This is not the first time in American history that persons living within the United States have been held indefinitely during times of war. Japanese-Americans from southern California were taken to so-called â€Å"detention camps† after the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II. The crime is that we have not learned the lessons of history, that we apologize and in some cases make restitution for the same thing we are now repeating at Guantanimo Bay and in other places around the world. The biggest tragedy of the Patriot Act and the methods used by federal law enforcement in the wake of September 11 is that none of these actions would have prevented the terrorist attacks. Instead, these methodologies encourage people to be more secretive and less open. The only way the attack on the World Trade Center could have been avoided would have been for there to have been a better exchange of information. Perhaps it is a sign that American education is lacking, or evidence that those in power will always seek to increase their power, but the reality is the Patriot Act has not done anything to discourage international terrorism or increase American safety. We have, in fact, sacrificed our freedom and in return lost both it and our safety.

Colonialism and Politics - European Perceptions of Africa Essay

European Perceptions of Africa      Ã‚  Ã‚   Living in the dawn of the 21st century, the idea of economic development permeates third world politics.   Perhaps no single issue has raised so much hope, or so much scepticism, as the idea of development.   Historically, attempts at economic development have resulted in varying degrees of success and failure.   Nowhere has this been more apparent as in Africa.   By the 20th century, Africa began to play an increasingly important role in the European economy.   In the 1920's, Europe promoted Laissez-Faire policies in Africa, but gradually shifted towards protectionism and Neo-Mercantilism in the 1930's, and finally to disengagement in the 1950's.   The purpose of this essay is to chronicle these changes in European perceptions of Africa's role in the global economy, and explain that although the outcome of these policy-changes eventually led to the end of colonial rule, the political, social, and economic effects of these policies made it impossible for the Africans to enjoy true independence.    The first part of the 20th century was characterized by European imperialist policies in Africa.   Seen as the "White Man's Burden," Africa's wealth and raw materials were exploited as cheap exports to support metropoles in Europe.   Before the mid-1920's there was a high demand for tropical goods (sugar, cotton, cash crops, etc.).   Correspondingly, both France and Britain prescribed laissez-faire liberalist policies for Africa.   The idea was to open up Africa's wealth to the world while keeping it a net exporter of raw materials used in the manufacture of European goods.   But by the mid-1920's, Africa's role began to change.   The European economy, ravaged by World War One, was forced to rebuild.... ...7. Cooper, F. and R. Packard, (eds).   International Development and the Social Science. University of California Press; 1997. Davidson, Basil.   Black Man's Burden:   African and the Curse of the Nation-State.   New York Times Books; 1992.    1 Austen, Ralph.   African Economic History.   London:   James Currey, 1987.   P. 199 2 Ibid.   P. 202 3 Ibid.   P. 203 4 Ibid.   P. 203 5 Cooper, F. and R. Packard, (eds).   International Development and the Social Science.   University of California Press, 1997.   P. 67 6 Ibid.   P. 67 7 Ibid.   P. 65 8 Austen, Ralph.   African Economic History.   P. 199 9 Davidson, Basil.   Black Man's Burden:   African and the Curse of the Nation-State.   New York Times Books; 1992.   P. 181 10 Ake, Claud.   Democracy and Development in Africa.   Brookings Institution, 1996.   P. 2 11 Ibid.   P. 7   

Ideological Film Analysis Essay

Social inequality and inequity are rampant cases that can be depicted on the status quo. These actually act as perpetrators of intractable crimes in our social milieu. These are indeed the catalyze for the spread pf communicable disease in the society—-disparity. And even in the game of love, these have been proven to be the barrier that creates a greater disparity among the social statuses of our society. From the film entitled Wedding Crashers, the above-mentioned scenario was clearly exemplified. Having the fact that the two guys, who act as the wedding crashers, are commoners and the family of the girls they are eying for belong to the alta sociedad, the difference between the two becomes visible. When the two wedding crashers clashed with the daughter of a family under the â€Å"spell† of political realm, the two different worlds coincide portraying the different scenarios that truly happen in the society. The story is basically about a pair of friends who work in a law firm and were involved in various cases regarding divorce. This experience made them realize what wedding can only bring to them and doing serious about it is not their plan. Thus, the hobby of being wedding crashers become the outcome of their daily experience and seducing bridesmaids turn out to be a norm in their life. Until one day the partners in crime( Jeremy Klein and John Beckwith) bumped into the reality that not all of what they are doing will just lead them to a laugh-out-loud experience and endless cycle of seducing women. The comical life they always anticipate turns out to be a big chaos that both of them do not know how to give solution into it. Never did they imagine that a wrong party they will crush into will come along their way and make them decide to stop finally what they have planned and done habitually. The dilemma comes in when they crashed into the wedding party of the daughter of the Nation’s Secretary of Treasury and finally fell in love with two of its sisters, Gloria ad Claire Cleary- a primary rule they should never break but inevitably did. Belonging to the different â€Å"faces of the society† with different class status, political ideology, sociological   background an d points of view they are believing into, the the partners   in crime necessitate to decide whether or not they should   still fight for the what they think is right or for what everyone else dictates them to be right. Taking into consideration their routinary life of cashing into the the wedding, seducing and flirting with whoever girls will be attracted to their machismo, now being crucially involved in a family dominated by political realm, the best of friends have to made a choice whether to turn their back to what their â€Å"past life† brings them and finally embrace a new life tat is absolutely different from the one they get used to because of love. But little did they know that the past they are trying to escape from will be the hindrance that will jeopardize their   way towards pursuing their love. The film conveys the social milieu we are into: the art of seduction, the different social strata, the effectual influence of family upbringing and orientation, the dilemma between sincerity, mere attraction and plain sex, and the ambiguous disparity among working classes under the influence of politics. The film may portray a comical scenario that we do encounter in   our daily life. But that is only on the superficial part. What we do not see is the   depth of the issues behind all of the laughters and funny scenes. What we do not pay attention with is actually what we need to analyze in the movie. And what we do not hear after the jokes being cracked and humorous lined being   delivered is the true orientation of the disparity in the society. Appearance must not be regarded as the sole reality. Not all we perceive as humorous in the superficial part will still be consistent with that of the details we have not encounter yet. True, the movie is funny! To crash into a wedding just to seduce women might seem just like an ordinary scene in the society. But to crash into a wedding of a high-class family belonging to a famous political icon and fell in love inevitably to its daughter is another story. The disparity in the society surreptitiously reeks everywhere. And an effective panacea for this malady only lies in our intellectual judgment and   doing away from the superficial depiction of the reality. And of course, not just mere perceiving that humorous thing cannot encounter a dilemma brought by the social inequity.

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