annotated bibliography and review of literature

I apologize this is not on my website. I still am unable to get onto my website to publish these, so for now I have to put them on the blog. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Annotated Bibliography

1) Davey, Joseph Dillon. The Bill of Rights Today: Constitutional Limits on the Powers of Government. Lanham, Md.: University of America, 2008. Print.	Most of the Books that I used are similar in nature. In this book written by Davey, laws and rights of the people and of the limitations of government are examined in detail. I referenced this book to show how some rights of others violate other rights. I also referenced this book to indicate the constraining power of the government and the people’s ability to protect their rights, similar to the structure of the government and people in Little Brother.
2) Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. New York, NY: Tor Teen, 2008. Print.	The epitome of my topic, Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother is the primary source in which I use to discuss my topic. Doctorow tries to answer the question, “Can government terrorize or be terroristic?” In this sense, he is asking is there a perfect democracy and, in this book, does this democracy demoralize American rights such as the right to privacy? I referenced this book a lot to answer these questions.
3) Honigsberg, Peter Jan. Our Nation Unhinged: the Human Consequences of the War on Terror. Berkeley: University of California, 2009. Print.	Now this book does not particularly relate to the issue at hand, but I have referenced this book because it tells of the stories of how America violated rules of human rights. I referenced this book because on how it focuses on how the U.S. government manipulated the law as well as made up laws to show power, relating to the government in Doctorow’s Little Brother. Also, I have referenced this books inhumane treatment and torture of prisoners, similar to the position Marcus and his friends were in in Little Brother. Suspected terrorists in this book were taken into prisons and tortured, relating to the issue Maruc and his friends were in.
4) Paul, Ellen Frankel., Fred Dycus Miller, and Jeffrey Paul. The Right to Privacy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 2000. Print.	This essay was written to discuss both the right to privacy and the roles that rights play in public policies. I referenced this essay because one of the main issues at hand in Little Brother was the right to privacy. One of the questions was how far can the government go? Privacy is one of the rights of the people, but one of the issues is can the public have private lives with the government having the power to demolish that privacy?
5) Plato. Tyranny and Freedom. [Washington, D.C.]: University of America, 1982. Print.	I have referenced this book because it pertains to both tyranny and freedom. I did not use a lot of this book, moreover I have referenced specific ideas that it gives, such as tyranny and its affect on freedom. In Little Brother, freedom was being taken over by tyranny, and I have referenced this book to show the great issues that relate.
6) Simon, Leslie David. NetPolicy.Com: Public Agenda for a Digital World. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center, 2000. Print.	This book relates to the digital world that is shown in Little Brother, known as Xnet. In this book, it defines the net and its impact, using this definition to help show how Marcus quickly uses Xnet to his advantage on taking back freedom. It also discussed digital democracy, meaning one’s freedom of using such technology. I referenced this book because some of the points it makes references Marcus and his position on using Xnet and the government abusing its power to try and control such things.

Review of the Literature

One of the biggest issues that arises in Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother is “Can government’s terrorize/be terroristic?” Under this question arise simpler ones: “Is there a perfect democracy?” Or “Can governments violate human rights, such as the right to privacy, to achieve goals?” The goal of my topic is to answer these questions. One of the major themes that is constant is the question of whether or not there is such a thing as a a perfect democracy (1,2,3,5). This “perfect democracy” in unattainable, for in a democracy, rights of some can violate the rights of others (1). In a “perfect democracy,” tyranny goes hand in hand with freedom (5). As seen in Doctorow’s Little Brother, after the terrorist attack, the government becomes more authoritarian in its effort to eliminate terrorism. In this action, the government is destroying freedom. In the government’s action to eliminate terrorism, they underestimate the human consequences that occur. In Honigsberg Our Nation Unhinged, he discusses how America violates rules of human rights and how the U.S. manipulates the law to achieve goals (3). As in Little Brother, there is inhumane treatment and torture of prisoners suspected of being terrorists, such as Marcus and his friends being taken in and interrogated against their will. Lastly, the major issue at hand is the right to privacy (4,6). In Doctorow’s book, the invasion of privacy is completely evident, such as the monitoring of people to track the places they have been in order to ensure that they aren’t doing anything mischievous. The right to privacy is a right given to the people by our forefathers (4). In desperate times, however, the government can eliminate this privacy in order to ensure “security.” This “security” prohibits people from privacy, such as the use of the net (6). Digital democracy is a given, stating that one has the freedom to use the net and other technology so long as it does not promote destruction or something illegal. So how far can the government go in order to ensure its own safety? The cost of innocent lives and justice is evidently shown.

Doctorow attempts to answer these questions in his book Little Brother. His position is evidently shown throughout the book. He shows that even a great democratic country like the U.S. can succumb to tyranny when threatened. At the expense of justice and innocent people, the U.S. attempts to secure its democracy. In attempting to eliminate terrorism, terrorism is promoted through their actions. Democracy does tyrannize rights. In the government’s tyranny, the rights of liberty and privacy are clearly eliminated, which raises the question of just how democratic the U.S. is. My opinion on what Doctorow is trying to say is that I agree. I believe that in times of desperation, a great nation such as the U.S. can succumb to the madness that it tries to eliminate. I also believe that Doctorow’s examination on the rights of liberty and privacy can completely be undermined. The right to privacy is clearly eliminated in Little Brother, and is a great possibility in the future if the time for it. So that answers the question of just how democratic the U.S. is. In desperate times, desperate measures will be taken, even at the expense of innocent lives and human rights. Doctorow’s stand is that even a democracy can become a repressive government, and I agree with Doctorow. Political oppression can result in fear and tyranny, and even the rights the defined us as a nation can be taken away. The right to privacy and liberty are the biggest issues because many Americans believe that enables them to freedom, and taking away those rights takes away their freedom.