Freedom is the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints, we have the right as not only Canadians but as human beings to this right. Both freedom and protection are a state of mind, you can’t literally have either but the sense of peace that comes with either is enough.
Without protection however the freedom that we have created in our minds will be shattered, because fear will control you. It’s the same for when there is too little freedom, because without freedom, protection no longer feels like protection, it becomes harassment. Finding the middle ground between the two is quite difficult because each individual has his or her own idea of how much freedom and protection their life requires.
When considering this in the book Little Brother we can see that Marcus’ father is completely fine with all the changes that have been made, he believes that the amount of protection being used is creating their freedom. However Marcus doesn’t agree with the new way of protection at all he feels they have lost all of their freedom and their government is no longer protecting them but the ones creating the terror.
Canada’s charter of rights and freedom states the everyone has freedom of conscience and religion. Freedom of thought, belief and expression, including freedom of the press and other media. Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association. These rules were created for a reason to protect the fundamentals of humanity, so why do we still hear of cases where individual’s rights have been taken away. There is no real way to make everyone of a society happy, someone will always be protesting or arguing to make a change.
Even though the book is set in San Francisco, the mention of the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms was very useful in bringing a closer perspective to the subject. As well, the borders of protection and freedom were an important part of our class discussion so it's good you put that in. Adding a couple more examples (from the book or from around the world) would improve this, as well as some punctuation checking. Good job! :)
ReplyDeleteAs Leina said, it was great that you were able to make connections that were closer to home and allowed the reader to have a better understanding of your blog. I really liked how you mentioned that fear is caused by an imbalance in freedom and protection, and that a balance will maintain peace. Adding more connections the book, or talking further about why Marcus and his dad have different view on the subject would have added a lot to this blog. Awesome job though!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Leina and Hanna that using the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms really helped me understand better, having an example that I can easily relate to. I also liked how you show the differences of opinion with Marcus and his dad, but I wished you had maybe expanded on that a bit more. Great post Alyssa!
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