Cause and Effect Essay
Most, if not all, Americans deeply cherish their constitution andespecially the rights granted to them in the Declaration of Independence.It is the purpose of this paper to establish that perhaps one of thebiggest effects of the terrorist attacks of September 11 has been the lossof certain, previously taken-for-granted unalienable rights such as theright to life, liberty, and happiness. Therefore, it can be argued that theterrorist attacks were, at least partially successful, in so much that theysucceeded in damaging the very foundation of democracy and the American way The September 11 attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 5,000people and injured tens of hundreds more (O'Brien, 2001). While the sheernumbers of lives lost was devastating enough, the terrorist attacks causedmore than just the physical loss of life. They changed, perhaps forever,the right of every citizen to feel psychologically secure and protected intheir own country by virtue of the fact that the form and scale of theattack was unprecedented. Airplanes used as weapons, terrorists willing to
Thus, it is evident that September 11 resulted in not just death, but alsothe loss of a peaceful and secure way of life for the living. Oneof the main attributes of liberty is the granting of basic human and civilrights such as the right to dignity, privacy and the right to be deemedinnocent until proved guilty. Thus,people who may or may not be Middle Eastern or may or may not be evenAmerican are subjected to the personal embarrassment of being detained andsearched at airports (O'Brien, 2001), and to that extent, have lost theirright to privacy, their right to be seen as innocent till proven guilty,and have lost their basic human right to equality and dignity. Thus, it is evident that September 11 has resulted in a loss of life,liberty, and happiness and to that extent, the terrorists attacks havepartially succeeded in undermining the very foundation of democracy and theAmerican way of life, which is now predominantly characterized by fear. One possiblemanifestation of this condition, it can be argued, is the long andindefinable war on terrorism that America has embarked on till such timethat its people feel secure again (Jervis, 2002). Happiness is a frame of mind that stems from a feeling of economic,social, and psychological well-being. he threat of biological warfare have all served tocreate a feeling of vulnerability in American society. Another effect of the terrorist attacks was the loss of liberty. As a result of the September 11attacks, psychoanalysts believe that a condition termed as "pure war" haspossibly emerged. This concept refers to the potential of a culture todestroy itself completely due to a psychological condition that resultswhen people know or fear that they live in a world where the possibilityfor absolute destruction exists. Post September 11, the overriding need forsecurity has been cited as the reason for increased checking at, forexample, airports. The horror of the "pure war" conditionlies in the fact that it develops a culture, which believes that there isno escape and hence, constantly prepares for absolute destruction and forpersonal, social, and cultural death (Borg Jr.
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