I agree that the freedom with which we can explore, learn, create,
and teach is at issue.
I believe in creative approaches, and I think this implies a little
disobedience. I am advocating _nice_ disobedience. :-)
The example of the old lady on the bus is fine - she did not TAKE
anything from them (except perhaps, temporarily, a seat). She did
not, for instance, break into the bus depot and destroy the engine,
thus preventing anyone from using the bus. She did MAKE a
point.
Yes - MAKE a ruckus - no - don't TAKE down a website. It's not
matter of obedience or disobedience - it's just that if you use the
tactics you are objecting to, you have lost your case.
People will have much less to complain about if all you do is
creative. If there are destructive elements involved then you have
less high ground to stand on.
Couch the message in tools and techniques that have a net
positive outcome for the community. If the cause is good, interest
will spark easily.
My faith is that sticking to this principle of 'revolution through
evolution' - rather than via destruction - will safeguard the passage
of these ideals.
BTW, the stats are telling me I'm up to 707 hits on the death
penalty page. Still filling up them logfiles? The webmaster must
have a counter-script for it by now. And it's really like, 1 maybe 2
public servants who have well and truly got the msg. I have served
700+ members of the _public_. And my page - acts of DOS forbid -
will still be servin' in five more years. Where will the webmaster of
some obscure site in a southern state of a northern American
country be then?
Stuart
(1 "l", 1 "s", 1 "i" ;-)
0100,0100,0100On 15 Dec 2000, at 19:28, jjf wrote:
0000,0000,0000Date sent: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 19:28:20 -0000
From: jjf <<[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: H/Activist ethics
Send reply to: [email protected]
7F00,0000,0000> [: hacktivism :]
>
> Isi,
>
> I must say your faith is great. I am glad that the spirit of
> non-violent direct (h)action is so strong in most people and it
> pays to sit down after a frustrating experience and listen to/read
> what yourself and others have to say about the virtues of this
> path because it does best reflect the end to which we are all
> working. However, I fear that there is a danger of constricting
> oneself and letting oneself be constricted too much in what one
> deems to be "exploring, learing, creating and teaching". A look at
> the issues that 2600 et.al. has had to deal with this year shows
> that they have found themselves in conflict with the powers that
> be for exploring where and learning what they were not
authorised
> to, creating tools that were deemed illegal and teaching others
> things which were not allowed to be taught.
>
> Most of the time I would refute the defacing or DOSsing of
> websites, but when placed in the context of a far superior power
> it sometimes makes sense to use a pin to prick them, rather
than
> wait to be trampled. Some of the causes we are fighting for are
> more important than somebody's access to a website or a few
> hundred EURos. Public complacency is vast and at times the
only
> thing to do is to start a ruckus to get attention. Opponents of
> GMO testing in the field have taken to ripping the offending
> organisms out of the ground in Britain and successfully argued
> their case in court as a matter of preventing a greater evil -
> thus getting away with a caution and the judge's approval at the
> same time (understand the law who will).
>
> What I am saying is that all of the things you list are an
> (h)activists staple work, but going beyond that is sometimes
> necessary and often empowering. The key is, as you say, to
think
> strategically. But humans aren't just strategic/intelligent
> beings. They are also emotional. And the old black lady who sat
> down on a "whites only" seat in a US bus 40 years ago was
doing
> something the majority felt was illegal or inadmissible. But she
> did it and stirred up people's emotion. And those emotions led to
> debate and that made people think. In the end everbody with a bit
> of sense had to admit that what she had done was right and that
> the system had to change. Emotions vanquish complacency.
>
> Civil rights require civil disobedience.
>
> jjf [two "j's", one "f" ;-) ]
> > Well first, you gotta have faith. Faith in yourself., faith in your
> > friends, faith in life. Believe in the Ideal.....
> > Then, recursively, and incrementally, explore, learn, create,
teach.
> > Communicate constantly... cherish diversity... and do not lose
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