Little Brother Post-Reading #2

"We're in a lifeboat now, and once you're in a lifeboat, no one wants to hear about how mean the captain is being." 

 

 

In the event of an emergency, many people say that whomever is responsible for protecting the welfare of the common man must have an iron grip, and unquestionable strength, even if this means being viewed as a tyrant. And for the most part, I agree. In the event of a national emergency, martial law may very well take effect, and while the extent of this is very limited in the U.S. due to congress forbidding it in 1878, this can be changed with congressional approval, and when enough people are scared, they're not worried about their rights, they're worried about who's going to lead them out of the dark, no matter how malicious their means to doing so may seem. In the book, the DHS practically took over the country, which is in and of itself martial law, and rewrote the constitution, which is against the Bill of Rights, so in a real world scenario, this could very well start all kinds of protests, as this would be the government doing more than infringing on our rights, this would be them provoking our rights. But even amongst the protests, I think there would be a large number of people supporting the government, out of fear. "The ends justify the means" is a quote used by Machiavelli in the 16th century to say that no matter how nefarious or malign your methods may be, they're acceptable so long as you're accomplishing good deeds by doing so, but more often than not, these words are used as an excuse. Scientists who worked on Project Manhattan (the making of the first atomic weapon) were asked how they felt about the destruction their invention caused. While several of the scientists, such as Albert Einstein, admitted feeling sorrowful and guilty, others stated that it was simply a means to an end, and one that worked. Several countries use the "ends justifies the means" defense when using martial law, and at times they can appear reasonable, but the ends should never justify a pointless means. But back to the point. In the book, the DHS taking over involves mass invasion of privacy, much of it going against constitutional rights. Peaceful protests were being broken up and gassed unnecessarily, unprovoked searches, going against the 4th right, that were also conducted without a warrant. Government is limited by the people, and in the story, people are now limited by the government. But the common people don't much mind or care so long as they think they're safe, even though they're just becoming bigger targets. Also, Marcus points out that they don't allow trials or attorneys of law, as well as not telling the families of prisoners about their arrest, not having warrants for arrest (again), and threatening them if they told anyone. If this was to happen in real life, I pressure you to speak out against it, as in this case, the government is hurting you, rather than terrorists. You are their enemy.