The Unappreciated American Right to Privacy
by Katherine Love

Some Americans do not appreciate their freedoms. Americans should be the happiest people on Earth. They have so many different rights that most foreigners do not have the opportunity to experience. Americans should be thankful that they can do so much. They are free from tyrants, religious standards, and much more. Americans should have learned from 9/11 that they need to stand together. The U.S. Government is trying to limit some of the American freedoms because of what happened on 9/11. Many Americans do not appreciate these freedoms, and are willing to give them up without any questions. Americans need to understand that having certain rights is part of what makes America so great. Foreigners do not get the luxuries that Americans do, and they come to America to become free. If Americans allow the United States Government to take what seems like little freedoms, the government will start taking more and more until the United States is no longer free. This is why Americans should appreciate their freedoms and rights; otherwise, their freedoms will be taken away slowly but surely. Some people will argue that the United States government is only trying to protect the American people by taking their right to privacy, but America is great because of the free will of its people. Americans do not appreciate their right to privacy; therefore, they need to know their rights, understand those rights, fight to keep those rights, and understand how the current war affects those rights.

Americans do not know all of their rights to privacy as a United States citizen; therefore, they cannot truly appreciate those rights. Most Americans only know that they have a right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (Jefferson 451). They do not know about their other rights such as their right to privacy. This is “the right to be left alone—the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men” (O’Connor and Sabato 158). This right also covers birth control, abortion, homosexuality, and the right to die. Americans need to have knowledge of these rights, in order to appreciate those rights. Americans who know their right to privacy appreciate it more than those who do not know. Americans need to have some understanding of what the right to privacy really is. Some Americans know but do not understand their rights.

Americans need to understand their right to privacy in order to appreciate it. The right to privacy also includes the privacy of one’s home and the conversations within it. The authors of Essentials of American Government Continuity and Change explain the Supreme Court’s understanding of this right. Reading chapter 4 about Civil Liberties in Essentials of American Government Continuity and Change helps people to understand the right to privacy. Here is the right to privacy according to authors Karen O’Conner and Larry Sabato:

The right to be left alone—the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. It was not until 1965, however, that the Court attempted to explain the origins of this right […] Today, most Americans take access to many forms of birth control as a matter of course […] In Griswold [v. Connecticut], seven justices decided that various portions of the Constitution, including the First, Third, Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments, cast what the Court called “penumbras’ (unstated liberties on the fringes or in the shadow of more explicitly stated rights), thereby creating zones of privacy, including a married couple’s right to plan a family. Thus, the Connecticut statute was ruled unconstitutional […] When the case [of Roe v. Wade] came before the Supreme Court, Justice Harry A. Blackmun, a former lawyer at the Mayo Clinic, relied heavily on medical evidence to rule that the Texas law violated a woman’s constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy, which he argued included her decision to terminate a pregnancy […] It was not until 2003 that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an individual’s constitutional right to privacy, which provided the basis for the Griswold (contraceptives) and Roe (abortion) decisions, prevented the state of Texas from criminalizing private sexual behavior. This monumental decision invalidated the laws of thirteen states […] In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), six members of the Court overruled a 1986 decision and found that the Texas law was unconstitutional; five justices found it to violate fundamental privacy rights […] Oregon enacted a right-to-die or assisted-suicide law that allows physicians to prescribe drugs to terminally ill patients.(158-163)

The right to privacy includes so many different things. Most Americans do not know all of the parts of the right to privacy. Americans have fought the government in many cases to ensure the right to privacy exists.

Americans need to fight for their right to privacy instead of allowing the government to have complete control of their rights. Americans are allowing the United States Government to monitor what they say on telephones, including cell phones. They are also monitoring what Americans e-mail to each other. The United States Government is getting new technology to monitor “terrorists,” but who really knows what they are listening to? They are supposed to be monitoring people that use the words, “bomb,” “explosion,” and other words that pose a threat to America, but is that all they are paying attention to? Is the United States Government only listening to threatening phone calls? Are they violating American rights? Some people believe that the government is violating American rights and freedoms. Americans seem like they do not care that certain rights are being taken from them although the government is trying to prevent terrorist attacks. Why does the government need to monitor all American citizens? Have they actually prevented an attack since they have been listening to American’s phone conversations? The people do not know the answer to these questions, yet they are willing to give up rights without any proof that good has come from it. People need to start telling their government officials that they do not approve of certain rights being taken away, and that the American people would like to keep their rights.

Americans need to know how the war on terrorism is affecting their rights. The war on terrorism plays a big part in the right to privacy. The war has brought up several questions about how the government abuses their powers to take people’s rights. People need to start questioning the government although terrorist have not attacked American soil. What about the attacks overseas? Do those attacks mean anything to the American people? Americans are dying in Iraq and still the United States President asks for more men to fight. The president thinks that more troops could help end the war. How is that going to help? How will giving the enemy more targets help America end the war? Americans will always stand and fight for what is right, but how do they know it is right? Who told them it was the right thing to do? Americans fight those who oppose America, but they will not appreciate the rights and freedoms that make America great. They will even give up some rights just to feel protected. How is that fighting for America? The true America is being free from judgment, the freedom to do whatever the people want, and freedom to say anything they want. Americans really need to look back and remember what America really is. They need to look back through history and see what the soldiers were fighting for, and see if those reasons are still American rights. Did Americans give those rights and freedoms away? Do those freedoms and rights still exist? If the rights have been taken away, then what did the soldiers fight and die for? Why do Americans give something away that people have fought and died for? Would the soldiers have fought if they knew that what they fought for would be given away so easily? Americans will never know the answer to that question, but they should think about it. Americans need to realize that they have rights and freedoms because so many selfless men fought and died for them. They need to start appreciating what they have and fight to keep it, like the soldiers fought to get it. Americans need to stand together to protect their right to privacy the same way they stood together after 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. Americans can look back through history and see people standing together for America and its rights. When someone looks back through history, that person can get an understanding of the importance of standing together as one.

In contrast, some people claim that many Americans do not know their right to privacy, yet they still appreciate it. These people believe that people do not need to know what rights they have in order to appreciate them. Most Americans do not understand their rights, and they still appreciate them. However, appreciation is not understanding, and understanding something has nothing to do with appreciating it. Americans do not need to fight for their rights to appreciate them. The U.S. Government is only listening to the phone calls made to other countries. They are not monitoring all American citizens; therefore, they do not need to fight to keep their rights. The U.S. Government is only trying to protect its people. The American people do not need to fight the government to gain freedom or rights. The U.S. Government was made for the protection of its people.

Most Americans do not know their rights. How can someone appreciate something if he or she does not know about it? They cannot appreciate it. Some Americans take for granted the rights they do know and understand, while some Americans want to know but do not know where to find out about their rights. Americans have been fighting for their rights since America was founded. America has been to war with many countries trying to defend the rights of its people. Soldiers have fought and died defending American rights and freedoms. Americans need to honor those brave men and women by appreciating what they died for.

Americans need to have a knowledge and understanding of their rights in order to appreciate them. Americans who do not want to know or understand their rights are blissfully ignorant on how important those rights are to America. America is the land of the free, but without certain rights and freedoms America would not be free. Americans who fight for their rights appreciate them more than those who will not fight. Fighting does not only mean going to war. It can be protesting a law that violates Americans’ rights, or writing to someone in the government about bills that violate Americans’ rights. Fighting is not always physical; it can be mental as well. A person does not have to hit someone to fight that person, he or she can argue with the other person. Arguing is a form of fighting that can be used to protect American rights. Americans need to stop taking advantage of their rights, or they will eventually lose those rights.

Works Cited

Jefferson, Thomas. “The Declaration of Independence.” The Power of Language, The Language of Power. 2^nd ed. Ed. Jessica Isaacs XE "Jessica Isaacs" , et al. Boston: Pearson, 2006. 451-53.

O’Conner, Karen and Larry J. Sabato. Essentials of American Government Continuity and Change.2006 ed. New York: Pearson, 2006.

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