ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the precarious position of the middle class, and the increased and often unchecked use of militaristic law enforcement strategies to combat crime and respond to global and domestic terrorist threats. It also considers the decline of the middle class and increasing economic inequality in America. The chapter argues that changes to the current economic and political trajectory are essential to preserve the middle class in America, and in turn, the republic. It also discusses the ways in which an American culture of fear has developed over several decades, and the ways in which the 9/11 attacks have exacerbated this fear. The chapter examines the rise of the police state and the encroachment on Americans' civil liberties, and explores the ways in which our institutions have legitimized this shift. The rise of the police state in America is best characterized as developing from quiet exceptions to the Constitution, in response to perceived threats of drugs, crime and terrorism.
