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Digitization
1." Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting on that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver ; but that no longer being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him out of two evils to choose the least... " -- Common Sense, Thomas Paine

2."...And it is told that he made his way through their streets at night, crawling through their many windows and crouching in their gardens, moving through the sewers beneath the cobbled roads and slipping over their railings. Watched by their cats and the roosting pidgeons of their city, yet wary of their slumbering dogs, he went. They would not see him, nor wake as he drew near, but would only shudder, calling out the names of their gods in their sleep. Restless, they tossed as he passed under the window like an errant lover fleeing dawn. And by morning light he was gone, away from that place, and moved on to another world." -- "Petals of Twilight" -- Charles Francois Guillermot

Analysis
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 * 1) This anarchist manifesto by Paine's Common Sense is fairly well-placed; close enough to the start of the game to have the player thinking of the government, but late enough to be at least ankles-deep in conspiracy. "An industrial age machine" and "The separation of powers acknowledges the ambitions of petty individuals; that's its strength" are strongly evoked here. Suggest keeping that rhetoric in mind while reading this.
 * 2) I cannot find reference to this poem or author anywhere; I expect that this is an artificial construct, built by the writers of the game. Regardless, it is a fairly good poem, and a pinpoint-accurate account of the most oft-taken route in the game for JC -- a relatively nonviolent one, centered around thievery and sneaking through levels.