The Patriot Act Philosophers have helped us understand the establishment of governments and the authority of state over the individual. In this world there needs to be rules established and certain freedoms giving up for the exchange for protection and security. This is known as the social contract theory, which was originally founded by Plato. But such ideas has been expanded and taken one step further by many philosophers. This idea of a social contract is one of our most essential foundations of our American political system. The debate of how much of our liberties needs to be taken away to ensure our security has been a long lasting one. One of our most iconic founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, said, “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.” When we give governments power, they will use them for their own self-interest and when needed for their preservation. In the last decades there have been many technologic advances and our government need to adapt to these changes. The Patriot Act was but into law because our congress believed it was the right course of action to protect our nation’s security. Nonetheless, The Patriot Act undermines one of our most fundamental civil liberties and questions the integrity of our American democracy.
Six weeks after September 11, 2001 congress passed a new law named, The Patriot Act (The Uniting and Strengthening America by Proving Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001). After these attacks, the nation’s top priority was to defend its citizens from other acts of terror. Many politicians argued that these terrorist attacks succeeded because we as a government did not have the necessary tools to stop them. Part of the problem was that The Fourth Amendment required investigators to show probable cause of criminal