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of the population. As I stated in the opening of this article, Americans seem to be looking the other way while portions of their population are immobilized. The PATRIOT Act has a few sections that lead me to believe that the government sees immobilization as a form of defense, no matter who it affects. One of these sections is Sec. 355, the Illegal Activity Reference clause. This clause states that "written employment references may contain suspicions of involvement in illegal activity" . If you look closer at the clause, it does not require a court judgment of somebody's apparent guilt. Rather, it relies on subjective suspicions of fellow employees or management to make a character judgment on someone they perceive as "suspicious". The language in this section is absolutely frightening, as it sets the bar for a paranoia-inspired society. An example of this can be seen in the statement that asserts that a person can submit a written report to someone's future employer containing "information concerning the possible involvement of such an institution-affiliated party in potentially unlawful activity." The potential consequences of this action could cause a completely innocent person to become "black-listed" from a field of work. There seems to be very little legal basis for this statute. The same goes for the National No-Fly List. Individuals are placed on the list because their name corresponds with a name that the government finds to be suspicious or "on alert". However, there have been numerous reports of flaws in the system. In an assortment of cases, innocent individuals attempting to travel around the country have been halted and not allowed on planes, all because they have a name that sounds like a potentially dangerous person! Worse yet, and most suspicious of all, is that for years there was no known appeals process. Only recently has an appeals process been placed into development. This has indeed aided in the creation of an immobilized existence for a few normal Americans.

The novel 1984 is actually a study about how language is used to change the power balance in society. We see that in the novel, "Big Brother" uses authoritative language, and very little language of consequence is used by Winston's fellow men. They are mostly subjects under the power of a leader. This language is today being used in a division of the United States Government that has much to do with the installation and oversight of the PATRIOT Act, the Department of Homeland

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