The End of America, an adaptation of The End of America: a Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot by Naomi Wolff. It is a documentary that tracks the erosion of civil liberties in America in the aftermath of 9/11. The title is a metaphorical one in the sense that it focuses on the fact that America is losing its ‘soul’, the civil liberties, and individual rights that formed the foundation for its establishment. In this respect, the documentary involves interviews with the victims of this new trend in America and experts, which run alongside excerpts of Ms. Wolf’s lecture in New York as well as interviews as she illustrates her view of a ‘Blueprint’ for dictatorships.
The documentary also cites several examples and incidences in support of the assertions within it. These include the Patriot Act of 2001 and its provisions as well as how they trampled on individual liberties. For example, the Act gave law enforcement agencies more powers of surveillance. According to the documentary, without explicitly stating it, this Act gave law enforcement agencies the freedom to do almost anything in the name of keeping Americans safe. The documentary, like the book, also goes on to detail the ten steps by which the country has increasingly shifted towards a more authoritarian rule. Some of the steps include the creation of secret prisons by the government in which it detains suspects without trial, the development of a system of internal surveillance and the deployment of a paramilitary force, among others.
The documentary seems to be a provocateur that seeks to mobilize voice calling on Americans to rise against this trend. Indeed, part of the book titled A Citizen’s Call to Action (Wolf 1). In this respect, it aims to stir the emotions of Americans. The documentary uses a clever strategy in this regard. It opens with the sights of the America of traditional expectations, citing people’s admiration and capturing the Statue of Liberty that signifies America’s freedom and opportunities. To stir the emotions of the viewers, it juxtaposed with the disturbing cases of several people, which does help the story’s intentions. Some of these people include James Yee, a chaplain for the United States Army at Guantanamo, who was detained in solitary confinement for 76 hours. Maher Arar, a Canadian of Syrian descent telecommunications engineer, was detained at Kennedy International Airport and later transferred to Syria where he underwent torture for a year on charges of terrorism. The documentary closes with a stern warning that the next thing might just be an imposition of martial law.
Part II
ASSERTION 1
The documentary asserts that the essential tool for acquiring power after the 9/11 attack is the manipulation of fear.
RESEARCH FACT
In his essay, Resort for Fear, for instance, Chomsky (3) does agree that systems of power have always used fear to discipline its subjects and cites several examples. Primarily, the documentary implies that the US is only trying to curb terrorism within its borders through fear as a deterrent factor. Indeed, many governments have used the same tactic to rule over their subjects. Russia, for example, silences the opposition as well as the intellectual with assassinations and threat of imprisonment with hard labor (Stallard 1). Indeed, fear as a form of strategy to rule is standard for authoritarian governments (Wolf 13). The documentary’s assertion that America is losing its democracy finds support in the arguments of Murherji (7).
ASSERTION 2
The documentary also asserts that the new (authoritarian) America has allowed and even promoted the suspension of the rule of law and unchecked surveillance of citizens.
RESEARCH FACT
Rosen (1) does agree that America has suspended the rule of law and given the law enforcement agencies too much room to abuse power without fear of being held accountable.
ASSERTION 3
The film also argues that the US has increased surveillance of its citizens, which is also a characteristic of authoritarianism.
RESEARCH FACT
The revelations of Snowden on the National Security Agency (NSA) tapping into private phones of the US public (Burrough et al. 1) do confirm that this assertion. This new trend is almost like the extreme surveillance that George Orwell described in his book, 1984, the story of a government that watched over and controlled its citizens through fear. The level of surveillance manages to provoke fear in the hearts of the citizens.
In the end, these arguments remain valid. Authoritarian governments have always used these strategies to rule over their citizens (Murherji 9). Although the United States is not necessarily a full-blown authoritarian regime, it already does exhibit elements of such rule. In other words, it may not have come to the end as the documentary makes it seem, but it should be on its way.
Part III
This documentary does reveal a lot about how 9/11 left an indelible impact on the US and
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