“Democracy requires civil disobedience. Without civil disobedience, democracy does not exist.”
– US Historian Howard Zinn

When many people hear civil disobedience they think of either hippies or violent riots. But is this a correct assumption? Civil disobedience has been around since the beginning of organized civilizations and laws, but what is civil disobedience? Civil disobedience is commonly defined as the refusal to obey a law or follow a policy the patrons find unjust, they believe it to be their moral right and use a variety of ways to do this. Anything from passive resistance, to violent resistance. They believe that fighting for the right thing is more important than what the governing force’s say.
Many say civil disobedience is wrong, but if it wasn’t for civil disobedience we would still be under England’s rule. The Boston Tea Party was an act of civil disobedience, the citizens of the colony of Massachusetts broke the law by trespassing onto a British ship and throwing the tea from England overboard, but they did this with just cause, the colonist where being forced to pay taxes without representation to England. If it wasn’t for this small act of Civil Disobedience the movement leading to the War of Independence may have never happened. It was the abolition of slavery, the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, the Arab Spring, the introduction of labor laws and unions and environmental preservation that helped change our world, and they all involved acts of civil disobedience. (“The Role of Civil Disobedience in Democracy”)
There are several methods of civil disobedience protesters use, ranging from violent ones to nonviolent and peaceful ones. Many acts of protests though are peaceful and well calculated. Sit-ins, marches demonstrations, refusal to pay certain taxes or to occupy an area until the demands are met are common forms of nonviolent civil disobedience, one can not forget however about the violent methods of civil disobedience. For example, a black bloc which is sometimes violent but not always, and property destruction of the forces they are fighting against. Many participators do not believe in violent resistance however.
Civil disobedience is illegal, at least according the penal system and law enforcement. Because so much of civil disobedience is gathering in large groups, usually during a demonstration, though non-violent, can become police targets. What police usually do in order to crack down on a protest is to declare it ‘an unlawful assembly.’ An unlawful assembly is interpreted as conduct that poses a clear and present danger of imminent violence. What’s ironic is it’s usually not the protesters that are violent, but the police.
The government uses many methods to crack down on civil disobedience, anything from kicking in a persons door and raiding it, to fines, to arrest, and of course jail time, and that’s just to name a few. Why would the government crack down on this? Isn’t this what our country was founded on? Isn’t it our right to assembly? Well apparently it doesn’t apply if the government doesn’t like it, or thinks it may expose them. Think of the case of Wikileaks’ Julian Assange. He was charged with sexual misconduct allegation’s yet he was Put on Interpol’s ‘Most Wanted’ List, this was all before he even got news of his charges, neither him, or his lawyer received any written notice of the charges. Then the United States wanted extradite him to their country on espionage acts, but he didn’t spy on them, he simply received a leak and published it. Why are the governments going after him so extensively? Because he exposed their corruption. U.S. Army Private, Bradley Manning was accused of leaking documents to Wikileaks. Even though he has never been convicted of any crime, he has been detained. The conditions under which he is subjected are terrible, inhuman, and even considered torture.  Manning is being locked in his cell for 23 hours a day. He has no history of being violent to other detainees or any of the prison guards, and yet he is forced to sit alone in his cell, not even aloud to exercise. He is denied even the most basic aspects of civilized imprisonment like sheets and a pillow and at one point they even made him sleep naked for ‘fear he would commit suicide’. He allegedly leaked some documents and most notable a video called ‘Collateral Murder’ which was shot through an Apache helicopter gun-sight. It shows Apache crew shooting at civilians. Two journalist where shot at by the crew and killed. Two children where also injured after being in a van that came up to try to help the journalist. Manning believed these practices to be wrong, unjust and immoral. Exposing a war crime is not a crime. So why was he arrested? Because he exposed them with an act of civil disobedience. (“Collateral Murder.”)
In modern times Civil Disobedience is still going strong and even bringing masses of people together for a cause. One of the most modern examples is the Occupy movement. It all started with Occupy Wall Street then steadily grew to places all over the world, Occupy London, Occupy Montréal, Occupy Boston, Occupy Hong Kong, Occupy Denver, Occupy San Francisco, Occupy Athens and so many more. People from all over the world are waking up and expressing their distain to their financial corruption with acts of civil disobedience. They are angry that the big bankers and their allies have destroyed our economy, as they put in The Declaration of Occupation, “They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage. They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses. They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.” (“Declaration of Occupation”) Wall Street and others like it have continued using illegal practices for their own gain and at the peril of other people, the government knows about it, yet they do nothing. The top 1% controls 42% of financial wealth in the U.S. yet they pay fewer taxes than the remaining 99%. They have billions to spend, yet they get tax breaks while many of us have been struggling just to make it by. The criminal scandals of Wall Street have impoverished millions and brought down the wealth of the world by trillions of dollars, yet none of them went to jail, except Bernie Madoff. Perhaps this was because Bernie Madoff’s victims were other rich and famous people.
“Lehman Brothers hid billions in loans from its investors. Bank of America lied about billions in bonuses. Goldman Sachs failed to tell clients how it put together the born-to-lose toxic mortgage deals it was selling.” (Taibbi, Matt) None of these people go to jail, yet there are hundreds of people protesting these disgusting practices going to jail.
        Police brutality is getting more and more extensive even with non-violent protesters. At Occupy Wall Street the non-violent protesters are met with beatings and are sprayed with pepper spray and mace. When 23 protesters tried to close their bank accounts at CitiBank the security locked Citibank customers inside. One woman on the outside was also arrested while trying to contact lawyers for the ones stuck inside. They weren’t yelling inside, they were just trying to close their accounts. So, why are people being arrested for trying to close their banks accounts? Why where the police arresting them, when they didn’t do anything illegal? Protesters aren’t hurting anyone, except maybe bringing to light the corruption of Wall Street, which if probably the resin their met with such brutality. What’s ironic is, the police are all the 99%. Unless you’re a millionaire with a DC lobbyist in your pocket you’re a part of the 99%.
        As time goes by and people get more comfortable in everyday life and start to forget how we got the freedoms we do now, by using civil disobedience. Men, Women, Children, Young and old, no matter the race or religion can make a change in their country through civil disobedience.  

Resources (because many are asking about my sources):

“Collateral Murder.” Collateral Murder. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.collateralmurder.com/>.

Taibbi, Matt. “Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?.” Rolling Stone. N.p., 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-isnt-wall-street-in-jail-20110216>.

“The Role of Civil Disobedience in Democracy.” Civil Liberties Monitoring Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.civilliberties.org/sum98role.html>

“Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News.” CNN.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2011. <http://www.cnn.com/>.

Torres, Joseph, and Juan Gonzalez. “A daily TV/radio news program.” Democracynow.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2011. <http://www.democracynow.org/>.

Found on the pirate bay blog (original: http://thepiratebay.se/blog/204)

“2012 is the year of the storm.

The Pirate Bay will reach an age of 9 years. Experiencing raids, espionage and death threats, we’re still here. We’ve been through hell and back and it has made us tougher than ever.

The people running the site has changed during the years. No sane human being would put up with this kind of pressure for 8 years in a row. An insane hobby that takes time from our families, our work (sorry boss) and our studies.

What binds us all together is a strong belief that what we do is good. That it is something we one day can tell our grandchildren about with pride. People from all over the world confirm this. We read testimonials from people in Syria longing for freedom, thanking us for what we provide. We receive more than 100 visits daily from North Korea and we sure know that they need it. If there’s something that will bring peace to this world it is the understanding and appreciation of your fellow man. What better way to do that than with this vast library of culture?

With this said, we hear news from our old admins that they have received a verdict in Sweden. Our 3 friends and blood brothers have been sentenced to prison. This might sound worse than it is. Since no one of them no longer lives in Sweden, they won’t go to jail. They are as free today as they were yesterday.

But what enrages us to our inner core is that the system, the empire, the governments, are still allowed to try to boss you and us around with one law crazier than the other. Do you think they will stop with SOPA/ACTA/PIPA? They will not. Because you won’t stop sharing those files. Because we will not stay down. Because no one can turn back time. Together, we are the iron that hardens with each strike.

In this year of the storm, the winners will build windmills and the losers will raise shelters. So flex your muscles, fellow pirates, and give power to us all! Build more sites! More nets! More protocols! Scream louder than ever and take it to the next level!”

Today is the 10th anniversary of Guantanamo Bay. Today there are many protest going on, one right outside of the Supreme Court (watch the live stream here:http://www.ustream.tv/channel/korgasm#utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=9761899&utm_medium=social)

Guantanamo completely violates American ideals. We are suppost believe in trials and a fair chance, giving the person accused a fighting chance. But no, they never got/get the chance. Because it was in ‘a war zone’ all our ideals suddenly went down the drain. “Equal Justice under law?” (what it says outside of the supreme court building) does not exist in America anymore.

Now with NDAA anyone can go there. Me, you, your children anyone. Even if you did not do anything wrong, even if there is not evidence if you are accused of being a terrorist YOU could go there. No trial or lawyer. 

Is that what America is now? YES. We need to change that. 

1.  ### Destructive Security ###
2.  
3.                                          ### LulzXmas ###
4.  
5. We steal from the rich.
6. Give to the poor.
7.  
8. Take from the 1%
9. Give to the 99%
10.  
11. This is #LulzXmas - DestructiveSec style :)
12.  
13. Email:
14. charriegamer@hotmail.co.uk
15. omzlulzfunny@gmail.com
16.  
17. This Christmas we wish to give back to the people who had everything taken.
18. This Christmas we wish to bring happiness and gratitude to families around the globe.
19. This Christmas we are stealing from the banks who stole from you and giving you back what was rightfully yours in the first place.
20.  
21. Give a man a gun, he’ll rob a bank.
22. Give a man a bank, he’ll rob the world.
23.  
24. Any Country.
25. Any Age.
26. Anything.
27.  
28. We’re giving Santa Claus a break this year.
29.  
30. - @DestructiveSec
    
    Original: http://pastebin.com/QYrPdKfn