The section I want to talk about in “Technological Warfare” is the part where deLeon is describing deLeon wonders if he will see his friends again and if they will be alive or dead. He goes into great detail about how he can imagine their deaths and how their deaths would be reduced to mere data for people to read, which would not do anything to help them. (pp. 154-155) deLeon states how he feels useless and ashamed of the fact he can do nothing to help them survive.
I believe this is important because it cements the idea of how dangerous this journey is for his two friends, Lucho and Memo. It paints a really grim image of this journey and the fact deLeon is considering the very real possibility of them dying shows that this is something which is not a rare occurrence. This also touches on a topic where people will write books on the deaths of others, studying the details of those deaths, reducing those deaths to mere data, and profit off of it. This is something which does happen around the world, and it can be somewhat immoral, since even deLeon notes how it feels wrong to him if that happens.
In “The Border Patrol State,” the section I want to focus on is where Silko describes the malicious intention of the Border Patrolmen, with how they seem to relish in the possibility of detaining Silko and her friend. She describes how she read reports about how Argentinian police and military became addicted to interrogation, torture, and murder, and would abduct citizens to enact their desires. She states how it feels so easy for these men to kill the both of them and walk away. (P.1)
This description is rather haunting. Reading this, there was a sense of panic and fear for Silko and Gus. Their day went normally for the most part, then these patrolmen pull them over and begin showing hostility, being rather menacing figures. It really shows how much power patrolmen had and the way they abused the power they were given. It paints the picture of a big problem with the patrolmen, where they will go and harass people for their own pleasure. It leads one to question the moral character of the United States and their patrolmen, with how this terrifying experience being considered a regular experience.
