HN, What are you willing to be arrested for? Seriously, what does it take? | Hacker News Reader

HN, What are you willing to be arrested for? Seriously, what does it take?

6 pointssmokeyj2 comments

Rights are won -- never given. If you're not willing to defend them, they're not your rights. Which leads to the next question -- what rights are you willing to fight for? And by fight I don't mean bitch about on the internet -- but actually getting of your ass and willing to go to jail for (ex, non-violent civil disobedience).

In the advent of SOPA/PIPA/NDAA/Enemy Expatriation, it's time to make a game-plan. Parties are grappling for the right to censor our information, cut off our communications, declare us enemies, revoke our citizenship, and imprison us without trial in secret. This is no longer tin-foil territory. We can all disappear because someone stands to profit.

The only rights you have are the rights you're willing to defend. So I ask again. At what point is enough enough?

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Relying on documents such as the Constitution to guarantee our freedoms has become a thing of the past. The government has been hi-jacked by corporate interests, and the opinions of lobbyists has greater influence than the public.

It took the entire internet protest just to slow down ONE piece of tyrannical legislation. And in the end, it didn't even matter because they shutdown Megaupload anyways. Is this a system we should rely on for safety and security?

It's hard to say. I'm getting closer and closer to my breaking point with every passing day. The problem is, not enough people care (yet) about what's going on. So if if a few of us drop the non-violent approach, we probably only get to be martyrs for the cause. But maybe that's OK.

The other problem is, even if we had enough people who were totally fed up with our corrupt, evil government, and if we pulled an Egypt and took down the existing state, the question remains "what would replace it?" And, more to the point, "how do you know it would be better?"

What we really need in this country is an intellectual / cultural revolution, a fundamental change in the way people thing about things...a renewed emphasis on the idea that individuals have rights and a deep-rooted commitment to the idea of inalienable rights. Until that happens, I'm afraid that if we did replace the current State, it would be - at best - a wash. And things might even get worse.

That said, one situation that I know would get me arrested, would be if I were present at an event like the infamous UC Davis "pepper spray ordeal." Or, really, any situation where cops are beating somebody down or abusing their power and hurting somebody unnecessarily. I don't think I could stand back and watch... I'm pretty sure I'd grab the first pipe or tree branch I could find, or go in empty handed if I had to, and just start wailing on one of them.

I tend to be a bit of a hot-head at times, and those situations piss me off to a degree that I can't even put into words.

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