Post by ajl on Nov 11, 2007 20:51:39 GMT -5
America as a Crucible: Melting Down the Innocent
by Alice Li
499 Words
The United States of America has been fighting the War on Terror for a few years now, and the familiar battle cry, “If we don’t do something, 9/11 will happen again!” echoes throughout the global arena. That ‘something’ has been a lot of things- preemptive strikes on Iraq, the Military Commission Act, and the Patriot Act. These movements to crack down on terrorists and potential terrorists domestically and worldwide were lauded by the Bush administration as a way to make America safer, just as Abigail’s accusations in The Crucible were at first seen as a valiant effort against diabolism. However, the actual reality of the situation is that innocent people are being subject to prejudice because of their religion or even their appearances; liberties that America has treasured are being stripped away. The innocent are being “burned” in the attempt to “melt down all concealment,” just as the innocent victims of the witchcraft accusations were “burned” when the rampage of accusations raged through Salem.
Muslims in America, due to their distinctive clothing or physical appearances, are being targeted in the extremely controversial idea of “racial profiling,” which is taking into account ethnical characteristics in deciding whether a person is more likely to commit a crime. This has led to many unjust arrests and keeping “potential” suspects in custody by limiting the right of habeas corpus, as noted in the Military Commission Act of 2006. This is similar to The Crucible, when witchcraft accusations were made with no regard to actual evidence, but made out of fear, and were mainly aimed at older women in the society.
The Patriot Act of 2001 expanded the right of the federal government to search personal records, such as financial/medical records or search telephone/email communications in order to “catch terrorists.” This destroys many civil liberties American citizens have enjoyed, like privacy. These liberties are something that American citizens have enjoyed; indeed, they are what has distinguished America from the rest of the world and what has defined America. By taking them away, the attempt to “melt down all concealment” has instead destroyed what the US was trying to protect in the first place by catching terrorists. This is similar in the measures Danforth institutes to catch witches in that the accuser is given full power. However, Danforth’s methods backfire, because after the witchcraft mania is over, the original consensus it was trying to protect, Puritanism, has dissipated.
The US’s crisis of paranoia over terrorists is not dissimilar to Salem’s crisis of paranoia over witches. To counteract the proposed evil, the US instituted two Acts, while Salem gave accusers ultimate power. Both methods backfired, and destroyed the original consensus it was trying to protect; by implementing both Acts, the US has limited civil liberties and hurt innocent citizens; by allowing the accuser full power, Salem gave Puritanism a negative connotation and dissipated it. It is true in both cases, that in trying to “melt down all concealment,” it was the innocent that actually were burned.
by Alice Li
499 Words
The United States of America has been fighting the War on Terror for a few years now, and the familiar battle cry, “If we don’t do something, 9/11 will happen again!” echoes throughout the global arena. That ‘something’ has been a lot of things- preemptive strikes on Iraq, the Military Commission Act, and the Patriot Act. These movements to crack down on terrorists and potential terrorists domestically and worldwide were lauded by the Bush administration as a way to make America safer, just as Abigail’s accusations in The Crucible were at first seen as a valiant effort against diabolism. However, the actual reality of the situation is that innocent people are being subject to prejudice because of their religion or even their appearances; liberties that America has treasured are being stripped away. The innocent are being “burned” in the attempt to “melt down all concealment,” just as the innocent victims of the witchcraft accusations were “burned” when the rampage of accusations raged through Salem.
Muslims in America, due to their distinctive clothing or physical appearances, are being targeted in the extremely controversial idea of “racial profiling,” which is taking into account ethnical characteristics in deciding whether a person is more likely to commit a crime. This has led to many unjust arrests and keeping “potential” suspects in custody by limiting the right of habeas corpus, as noted in the Military Commission Act of 2006. This is similar to The Crucible, when witchcraft accusations were made with no regard to actual evidence, but made out of fear, and were mainly aimed at older women in the society.
The Patriot Act of 2001 expanded the right of the federal government to search personal records, such as financial/medical records or search telephone/email communications in order to “catch terrorists.” This destroys many civil liberties American citizens have enjoyed, like privacy. These liberties are something that American citizens have enjoyed; indeed, they are what has distinguished America from the rest of the world and what has defined America. By taking them away, the attempt to “melt down all concealment” has instead destroyed what the US was trying to protect in the first place by catching terrorists. This is similar in the measures Danforth institutes to catch witches in that the accuser is given full power. However, Danforth’s methods backfire, because after the witchcraft mania is over, the original consensus it was trying to protect, Puritanism, has dissipated.
The US’s crisis of paranoia over terrorists is not dissimilar to Salem’s crisis of paranoia over witches. To counteract the proposed evil, the US instituted two Acts, while Salem gave accusers ultimate power. Both methods backfired, and destroyed the original consensus it was trying to protect; by implementing both Acts, the US has limited civil liberties and hurt innocent citizens; by allowing the accuser full power, Salem gave Puritanism a negative connotation and dissipated it. It is true in both cases, that in trying to “melt down all concealment,” it was the innocent that actually were burned.