Let's fight terrorism with giving up freedom

Cody Cook

5W

Citation: 

Fagin, Barry. "Let's fight terrorism with giving up freedom." Editorial. Gazette 04 July 2013: n. pag. ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.

2. Fagin’s central claim in this article is that the possibility of terrorism on U.S. soil is better than the certainty of domestic surveillance.  Fagin believes that we should never give up personal liberties for supposed safety, which he argues is not real security because there is not even completely safety from freak attacks in a police state.

3. A significant piece of evidence that Fagin uses to support his claim is that massive electronic domestic mining has also been “shrouded in secrecy.”  Therefore, we should not blindly except that this will keep us safer from terrorism.  To the contrary, Fagin believes that reducing our military footprint overseas will save the United States money, which should then be given as a tax break to Americans.  Because prosperity and wealth, Fagin argues, are America’s most effective weapons, the United States should fight terrorism economically (especially because there are those who hate everything that America stands for, so there will be anti-American sentiment no matter what we do).  

4. I agree with Fagin’s perspective.  I would rather have the possibility of terrorism on U.S. soil than the near certainty of domestic surveillance.  One of the founding principles of our country is the right to privacy, which is clearly attacked when the government tracks our phone calls and reads our emails.  As John Adams once said, “A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”