After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, American citizens needed comfort food, and the Patriot Act was the fat hog that was fed to us. We all were scared after those times and we, as students, really cannot be blamed because it wasn’t us who allowed such an act to be approved.

The Patriot Act is the single most threatening piece of legislation to our freedom. The provisions in this legislation grant the government the right to tap your phone calls at its will. The same government that I am sure monitors the university for any outspoken students who speak against the mainstream has the freedom to overlook your rights when and if they perceive there to be a threat to the country.

Now you might think to yourself you have nothing to hide, nor are you a threat to the government, so why should you care?

I would agree that you are no threat to the government and likely haven’t done anything wrong in your eyes. However, by giving the government this ability to infringe upon our freedom, we are all at risk.

As an example, think about this. Perhaps you and I wouldn’t consider you a threat, however when you agreed with that protester on Grand River Avenue last year during an anti-war demonstration and agreed with an individual who might be familiar to someone that is considered a threat by the government, you became a target. Not because you care about government actions, because for most of you your lack of participation in our republic would suggest you don’t care what the government does with your money or freedoms, but because you were in contact with someone who was in contact with a threat.

Now they ensure your phone is tapped to make certain that you aren’t conversing with those who might be threats to America. They might be listening when you are talking to that friend or family member who likes to discuss politics.

The government is listening to what you say. You tell that friend or family member you think it’s stupid that the government isn’t funding schools, or it’s dumb that we are in Iraq or the government is stupid, the government hears you and it is up to them whether or not they perceive you as a threat.

Now I am sure you consider this scenario farfetched, and honestly I do as well, however it is the fact that it could occur that should deeply frighten you.

If the wrong person were to be put in charge and get an itch and decide that America is at risk, they could watch you, listen to you and decide that you are a threat who needs to be neutralized. To ignore the fact that the wrong person could gain power would be absolutely foolish; after all, we have had too many examples in our history of terrible leaders.

We still must approach the government as a foe, not a friend. The moment we befriend the government is the moment we lose our civil liberties in the face of dependence. Most of you have spent your life trying to free yourselves of your dependence on your parents, and now you are allowing the government to take up where your parents left off. We have already allowed the government to take control of us economically, ensuring that regardless of how stupid we are with money, nothing “bad” will happen.

We must prevent the government from taking our liberties and our freedom in the name of security. Repealing the Patriot Act is the first step to getting liberty back in America. We must not allow our government to fulfill its apparent goal and become our masters, if we do, then we don’t deserve the liberty we are losing.

Eric Thieleman is a State News guest columnist and a political science senior. Reach him at thielem4@msu.edu.