Essay #3 Final Draft, "The Price of Safety"

Tasmin Perry

ENGL 101-0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay 3

11/28/12

The Price of Safety

     Throughout history, the rulers of nations around the world have been depended upon by their society to provide security.  We have had cases of mass murders and attacks with no remorse and with evidence discarded of, some cases have been left open and no justice being served. But what if there was a way for these horrible crimes to be prevented before they even occurred? Would one give up many of their freedoms as an American citizen just to be protected even if that means having little or no privacy? I believe that it is morally wrong to violate citizen’s freedoms and privacy for the sake of protection.

     As witnessed in the movie Minority Report, the concerns of how to handle crime and security have left authorities to punishing criminals before they commit a crime. The pre-crime system would seem flaw proof. The psychic-like people give visions of a crime being committed and the police have are able to rush in before the murder takes place and arrest the “criminal”. This system has been proven to be inaccurate, in the scene where Tom Cruise played as Chief John Anderton, is told by the pre-cog that he has a choice to kill the man whom supposedly kidnapped and killed his son or let him live. John decides to not kill the man and instead arrest him. The man then kills himself. This particular scene was not shown by the pre-cogs as John killing the man but just the man falling to the floor. Also the finale of the movie showed a drastic turn of events. Though the death of Director Lamar Burgess did take place, again Chief Anderton did not kill him as perceived from the pre-cogs. Burgess killed himself because the truth about a murder he tried to cover up was brought to light. The system was made for the greater good but could be abolished when simple mistakes are made.

     To further express the pre-crime system being inaccurate not just because of glitches or repeats seen in the visions of the pre-cogs but using solely the bias of free will. Having free will as depicted by Michael Huemer in his article “Free Will and Determinism in the World of Minority Report”, “Free will is thought to require two things: alternate possibilities and self control.” Alternate possibilities meaning to have more than one future or options, and self control meaning to have total control and responsibility of one’s actions. Huemer uses the example of a robot to explain having free will. A robot with a computer brain is given codes then translates them to actions; the robot does not have the choice to do something if the code has not been made. But a man does not live from codes, man acts on impulses and is able to create the outcome of the action by thinking it through. The pre-crime laws are unreliable; you cannot simply punish a person for a future crime because they still have the will to make a different choice.

     Not only could the system be morally unethical by blaming someone for a crime that they haven’t committed but it is a violation of privacy. Adhering to the happenings of September 11,2001 and also the bombing of the Pentagon, our government has taken measures to ensure protection of our country, but are doing so in way without respect for the people. For example the Stop and Frisk program that takes place here in New York. This program completely violates the rights of our Fourth Amendment, stating “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The programs allows officials to randomly stop and search citizens through suspicions and solely how they look without any evidence, warrants or reasoning behind the search. This system was created to protect society but when officials go about it in a forceful and violating way it becomes unreasonable. Living in a country supposedly built on having many freedoms we are now forcibly subjected to be “watched” and spied on by the government again with no leads or warrants issued. As explained in Lisa Graves article, “The Right to Privacy In Light of Presidents’ Programs: What Projects MINARET’s Admissions Reveal about Modern Surveillance of Americans”, Graves depicts the effects of the governments surveillance. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or FISA was put in place to allow the government unlimited power to conduct warrantless searches of Americans' communications in the name of national security, during Nixon’s presidency. Though it is vital for the government to issue safety to their citizens, ones privacy and peace of mind should not be subjected to violation.

    Therefore, if society is able eliminate or drastically reduce crime, terrorism and other threats with keeping in consideration the regards of ethics and morals of the people using accurate systems which will not be missed used or give unreliable conclusions, also considering free will and not punishing until proven guilty and lastly not violating the rights of privacy and freedom then it is only right in exercising that system.

 

Works Cited

Minority Report. Dir. Steven Speilberg. Perf. Tom Cruise. 2002.

"Free Will and Determination". Science Fiction and Philosophy. Ed. Susan Schneider. Oxford: Blackwell, 2009. 103-112. Print.

Graves, Lisa. "The Right To Privacy In Light Of Presidents' Programs: What Project MINARET's Admissions Reveal About Modern Surveillance Of Americans." Texas Law Review 88.7 (2010): 1855-1904. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.