“Enemy of the State”
Summary
"Enemy of the State" is about the government surveillance and in particular the work of the National Security Agency. The U.S congress wants to pass counterterrorism legislation that supports the expansion of surveillance powers. Hamersley is against the legislation as he believes that it will destroy the privacy of the citizens. On the other hand, an NSA official Reynolds supports the passage of the bill as he is the aware that once the bill is passed, he will get a promotion within the NSA (Scott, 1998). For this reason, Reynolds and other NSA agents kill Hamersley and move his body near a lake. However, near the lake, there is a video camera that a wildlife researcher use to monitor bird migration. When Daniel Zavitz hears the new report about the murder, he retrieves the videotape and informs a journalist. However, Reynolds’s team attempts to remove the tape but Zavits converts the type into a DVD and moves to stay with his friend Will Smith (Scott, 1998). However, he is hit by a fire truck and this is where he meets his death.
Up to this point, the movie clearly shows that the government officials are using the governmental powers inappropriately or in other words, they have a self-interest. Rather than using the power to meet the security needs of the citizens, they want to benefit themselves. For example, Reynolds is a self-interested character since he is acting in a manner that he wants to take care of his needs but not to bring great good to many. Another important point to note is that in a high-tech world, technology has changed every aspect of life. Thanks to computers, video cameras, and other technologies that have a positive influence on national security. However, the movie reveals the negative side of the technology in that there is a data misuse by the respective authority and this is an indication that the government is unable to prevent external threats (Masco, 2014). There is a lack of internal control and the movie clearly shows that the authorities are practicing corruption and abuse of power. It is evident that national security agencies are the "bad guys'.
Critique
The terrorist attack on September 11 made the Americans put security as a number one priority than civil liberties. However, the issue of concern is about personal privacy as the citizens argue that national security policies restrict people from enjoying civil liberties. Even though citizens agree combating terrorism is an important step, they argue that government monitoring or in other words they have raised privacy concerns arguing about government intrusion (Masco, 2014). A point to note is that the First Amendment granted individuals civil liberties or free exercise and therefore the government should not use the latest techniques to control the lives of citizens as shown in the movie. Thus, the citizens are against constant surveillance, or in other words since the September 2011 attack, the government has imposed extreme surveillance and the citizens think that they are not exercising their rights. To understand the key message of the movie, Masco (2014) introduces the state for the U.S national security. Masco (2014) says that the cold war politics established the National security Act for intelligence-gathering activities. From the movie, it is clear that the national security agency dictated security strategies that have brought dramatic destruction in the U.S. Note that the U.S fear the cold war threat but the National Security Agency has brought new volatility and crisis through the creation of own democratic principles.
Masco (2014) argues that America experienced the fear of the cold war and today, Americans are experiencing fear from the national security agency. The film also reveals the effect of globalization which has enabled people to move from one place to another yet the National Security Agency has anonymous forces to control human movement and actions. However, the challenges associated with S&T are that there are no uniform policies to control the technical information. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, citizens argue that they do not access information that might help them become aware of the terrorist attacks. The new control policies restrict the technical information and if that is the case, there should be classification based on the information to be released to the public and the information that should be retained to protect national security (Knezo, 2006). Note that in the movie, the National Security Agency has access to personal data, or in other words, other words it has the power to monitor and control the daily lives of Americans. Individuals' lives are under the surveillance systems and this raises the issue of individual rights over national security. Since individuals cannot escape surveillance, there should be a new surveillance program that classified top-secret information.
In "survival is your business", Masco (2008) states that after the Cold War, America focused on nation-building. For example, the atomic bombs were a military technology that promotes security in the nation as well as in individual lives. In general, the U.S initiated a techno scientific project that could protect the nation from internal and external threats. However, the movie reveals that technology is associated with civil defense but it possess nuclear fear in contemporary American society. It is worth saying that the Cold War nuclear project has created a U.S security culture that has increased fear. This is because the National Security Agency uses nuclear weapons which are contributing to an unending threat (Masco, 2008). The move reveals that there is a continuity of nuclear threat in that the National Security Agency under the Obama administration uses a massive invasion of privacy and strong security measures. The agency is violating the constitutional rights using audios, videos, data-mining tools to access individual's information.
Enemies in the state
In the theme of government surveillance, the movie reveals that the National Security Agency is the enemy of the state and it becomes an enemy by using the government power and surveillance technology to keep citizens under constant surveillance (McGrath, 2014). The surveillance technology should be used for crime prevention but in modern Western societies, the surveillance practices have gone beyond what is expected. Critics are experiencing fear and social conflict merely because the National Security Agencies have a capitalist spirit that allows them to turn the nation into a world of atomistic. Note that U. S is a capitalist society and such a society is associated with inevitable conflict. Another important point to note is that in the 20th century, America believed that nations should form mutual support and provide collective security. The coming together of the nations and forming the league to nation provided better security. However, after the September 11 attack, the U.S realized the need for national security and developed the National Security Doctrine that gave the military the power to protect humans (McGrath, 2014). The U.S could provide political, economic, and military support to the National Security Agency and as a result, the NSA strengthened the security state to an extent of restricting individuals from enjoying their civil liberties'.
Focusing on the state of national security, it is worth noting that the National Security Agency is violating America's rights. The agency is using unconstitutional surveillance such as the use of the internet without a warrant. The government justifies its actions by arguing that its attempt to target terrorism but Americans argue that their privacy is affected since they also use the technology to communicate with their family and friends. Even if the government justifies its actions for protecting the nation, it is important to put into consideration privacy rights and be sure that the individuals enjoy their civil rights. Thus, security in Western society possesses many challenges, and maintain national security will not make any sense if the government will not review the Fourth Amendment. The government should understand that accessing an individual's information will not maximize security but the act will violate the fundamental rights and citizens will be restricted from speaking and expressing themselves. The government should make smart decisions that do not make people fearful. The government should be aware that the current national security is generating fear simply because those within the authorities are acting in a hostile way.
References
Knezo, G. J. (2006, December). " Sensitive But Unclassified" Information and Other Controls: Policy and
Options for Scientific and Technical Information. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON DC
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE.
Masco, J. (2008). “Survival is your business”: engineering ruins and affect in nuclear
America. Cultural Anthropology, 23(2), 361-398.
Masco, J. (2014). The theater of operations: National security affect from the Cold War to the
War on Terror. Durham: Duke University Press.
McGrath E. John. (2014). Loving Big Brother: Performance, Privacy and Surveillance Space.
Psychology Press.
Scott Tony. (20 November 1998). Enemy of the State.
