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Brad Cornejo

Pineda/Solig/Molstad/Azarian

American Studies

Block 3

November 29, 2017

Privacy and Irony

We the people were intended to control America not the government not the president

this is what John Locke thought, people were reasonable and moral, he also believedd that

people have rights that not even the government could deny , these rights were life,liberty ,and

property. ​Locke also believe the best kind of government have limited power and had to be

accepted by all citizens. Marcus, being our main character in the book also has some similarities

towards what John Locke believed. Marcus Portrays himself as a defiant, rebellious and

stubborn. While.W reading little brother you’ll start to question whether the government is

invading tthe privacy of the citizens of San Francisco or dare government or DHS department of

homeland security is really protecting the citizens. Marcus and his friends were out ditching as

they were ditching they found themselves in a predicament Marcus and the gang were caught

during a terrorist attack. Police Had caught them in the scene and interrogated Marcus and his

friends and interrogated Marcus and his friends they senselessly tortured them until they spoke

Marcus believes they were breaking the first Amendment. In the novel Little Brother the author

Cory Doctorow questions if the citizens of San Francisco should sacrifice their individual

freedoms for safety​,o,o​r is the government breaking ​tt​he first amendment​.

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Little brother gives us a lot of evidence why the government actions are not justice.

Marcus gives us valuable information that he’s been through which proves, why the government

actions aren’t justified.​ ​In page 273 Marcus, writes to the Xneters, (Xnet is a blog where you can

talk about your life in private). Marcus says “ he offered me a job help them hunt them down the

terrorist who killed my neighbors it sounded like a good deal at the time little did I realize my

actual job turn out to be spying on kids who resented the city and being turned into police state”

(Marcus, Little brother).​ ​The government planned to Control Marcus by offering him a job which

he then finds out the significance of his job was to spy on kids who were threats but not only

that,​tt​he DHS would invade the privacy of the kids and Marcus.​ The DHS is basically using

Marcus to do their dirty work. It’s importance embraces us to double check the bill of rights and

what it has to say, also the government would have to grant a warrant to search their

computers, the government wants to “keep us safe”.

It seems like the government hates when their own citizens goes against the system.

Marcus’s teacher who teaches at Cesar Chavez high school, Ms Galvez, Marcus’s teacher

speaks what she believes and what she thinks about government system.​ ​On Pg 197-198 the

principal says “ Ms Galvez will no longer be teaching this class... It’s board policy not to discuss

Employee matters with anyone expect the employee and the disciplinary committee”​((​Little

Brother)​.​ ​Ms Galvez was being kicked out of school for giving her students an assignment on

antiwar and civil rights movements. You can find this on page 182, where she wants her

students to an essay on antiwar and civil rights. ​This reveals that the government doesn’t care

about their own first Amendment which is forced freedom of speech. This connects to Marcus

theory towards the government.

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The government controls people's emotion, for example Marcus’s father would have

done anything to find his son​. ​On Page 123 Marcus’s father says “They might not have

caught any terrorist yet, but they’re sure getting a lot of scumbags” (Little Brother).​ ​This

proves that Marcus’s father didn’t have a say in anything, the government knew where

his son was but they made him think likewise.​ ​This is important because the government

has information on your child that you want to know, for example they were just simply

puppeteering Marcus’s​ father​ to believe his son is still missing, ​also they implanted

information to Marcus’s father that is not necessary just gain your trust.

This is all the evidence that proves Marcus’s point, the government or DHS,

manipulates their citizens of San Francisco, in the contrary, Marcus’s world shares a

rather arguable amount of similarities to our world. Ultimately Marcus shuts down the

DHS and prevents any spying, but he had a couple of helpfrom his friends​,​parents, and

teachers. Marcus represents George Washington, and all of America. Marcus wouldn’t

have done it without help that is the absolute true patriotic act anyone can do. In​ the end

we learn from Marcus and a bit of our history.