Super Power

   Whether it was the politicians of 1800 or the successful monopolies of 2000 there has always been a struggle for power. This struggle can lead to many different things, political scandals, corporate fraud, and in extreme cases accusation of others. A main reason for naming names is to gain power. This is seen in Arthur Miller's the Crucible, the great fear and McCarthyism, and in modern news the Patriot Act.

   In Arthur Millers the Crucible he uses the character such John Proctor to show the theme of gaining power. In Act II John Proctor is talking to his wife about the Salem Witch trials. His wife is trying to convince him to talk to the court and tell them that the whole ordeal is made up, that the girls are faking it. He is quoted replying, "You will not judge me more Elizabeth.I have good reason to think before I charge fraud on Abigail, and I will think on it. Let you look to your own improvements before you go to judge your husband any more." (Page 194) During this time Proctor is being accused of not turning Abigail in because he had an affair with her. Proctor is gaining power in this seen because he is reasserting that he can turn Abigail in at anytime, but he will do it when he chooses.

   In the Great Fear Senator McCarthy used everything he had to gain power. From creating lies, to accusing perfectly innocent people, he went to the edge of his being to gain power. In one specific case McCarthy was being given an interview on the communists in the United States when he accused over 200 government officials and private citizens of being communistic. He gains power by naming these people because it gives him the upper hand on the issue. Since he allegedly knew all of the terrorists in our country, one who feared terrorism greatly, people believed what he said, and in turn gave him power.

   In more recent news the United States government passed an act that gave them incredible abilities to allegedly monitor terrorists, and terrorism. The Patriot Act was passed in 2001 and gave the government supreme powers of monitoring citizens. It specifically allowed the NSA the right to tap and hack cell phones to listen to conversations. This supposedly was used to monitor and prevent terrorist attacks, according to the NSA it, "Thwarted 54 terrorist attacks." Whether on not it actually prevented attacks is up for debate, but,  the U.S. clearly used this act to gain power. It gave them power over a large group of people mainly due to their ability to monitor citizens They gained power by naming events where monitoring had worked, and due to citizens fear of terrorism.