General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Never again ask "How did Germans let it hapen?" [View all]Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)What The Patriot Act did was allow the govt to spy on its citizens without having to show any cause for it, or get a subpoena. It was an historical law. The sort of thing that Russia and Nazi Germany did. America did not do things like that. Ever. Americans had guaranteed freedoms to protect them from the government.
But I saw how easy it was for people to go along with it. "I don't do anything wrong, so why should I care?" was the general thinking. Or, "We need to do whatever we have to, to catch the bad guys."
A coworker said to me, "But there's a reason for it." I told her, "Yes, there's always a stated reason to pass a law like that. That's how they get people to go along with it."
But America has certain things that are guaranteed and mean what it is to be American. The freedom not to be spied on, secretly taped in private, and surveilled in private by the government is one of those things. Officials sanctioning white supremacy is another. Officials who label the free press as enemy of the people. Officials who try to ruin careers and personally destroy citizens or other officials who disagree.