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Tag: Civil disobedience
Wen Stephenson the American independent journalist and climate activist who helped launch the grassroots network 350 Massachusetts has published an article in The Nation magazine titled ‘Thoreau's Radicalism and the Fight Against the Fossil-Fuel Industry’ in which he states “…Fortunately, Thoreau—with his explicit endorsement of violence—didn’t get the last word on civil disobedience. Mahatma Gandhi, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and many others (including some environmentalists) transformed resistance to intolerable injustice in ways Thoreau never imagined—demonstrating the power of a steadfast, principled, radical nonviolence. Gandhi and King were the best kind of radicals. …And yet today we face a human crisis as extreme in its way as the one faced by Thoreau. What is the “sane”—and appropriately radical—response to the urgent human crisis of global warming? Is anyone willing to say, “This people must cease to extract fossil fuels, and to unjustly rob today’s children and future generations of a livable planet, whatever the cost”? It sounds crazy. But just as Thoreau and other radical abolitionists were willing to push the boundaries, so climate activists must be willing to say and do “crazy” and “radical” things—like put their bodies in the way of coal shipments, or demand that universities divest from fossil fuel companies—not because it’s politically expedient, but because it’s morally imperative. When the truly sane courses of action—putting a heavy price on carbon, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, massively scaling up clean energy, urgently seeking the necessary global commitments—lie outside the limits of political “realism” and “reasonable” debate, it’s time to ask who has the firmer grip on reality and reason. And it’s time to take the strongest nonviolent action. As climate radicals, we need to be true to our understanding of the facts, and to our principles, our perception of right, even as conscience compels us to act—to be, crazy as it may sound, revolutionaries.”  Inspired by Wen Stephenson, The Nation ow.ly/lE5Rr Image source Twitter ow.ly/lE5vs Who has the firmer grip on reality and reason (June 22 2013)

 

Wen Stephenson the American independent journalist and climate activist who helped launch the grassroots network 350 Massachusetts has published an article in The Nation magazine titled ‘Thoreau’s Radicalism and the Fight Against the Fossil-Fuel Industry’ in which he states “…Fortunately, Thoreau—with his explicit endorsement of violence—didn’t get the last word on civil disobedience. Mahatma Gandhi, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and many others (including some environmentalists) transformed resistance to intolerable injustice in ways Thoreau never imagined—demonstrating the power of a steadfast, principled, radical nonviolence. Gandhi and King were the best kind of radicals. …And yet today we face a human crisis as extreme in its way as the one faced by Thoreau. What is the “sane”—and appropriately radical—response to the urgent human crisis of global warming? Is anyone willing to say, “This people must cease to extract fossil fuels, and to unjustly rob today’s children and future generations of a livable planet, whatever the cost”? It sounds crazy. But just as Thoreau and other radical abolitionists were willing to push the boundaries, so climate activists must be willing to say and do “crazy” and “radical” things—like put their bodies in the way of coal shipments, or demand that universities divest from fossil fuel companies—not because it’s politically expedient, but because it’s morally imperative. When the truly sane courses of action—putting a heavy price on carbon, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, massively scaling up clean energy, urgently seeking the necessary global commitments—lie outside the limits of political “realism” and “reasonable” debate, it’s time to ask who has the firmer grip on reality and reason. And it’s time to take the strongest nonviolent action. As climate radicals, we need to be true to our understanding of the facts, and to our principles, our perception of right, even as conscience compels us to act—to be, crazy as it may sound, revolutionaries.”

 

Inspired by Wen Stephenson, The Nation ow.ly/lE5Rr Image source Twitter ow.ly/lE5vs

Anonymous the secretive collective of hackers formed in 2003 to initiate Civil disobedience spread through the internet has come under intense law enforcement response in the US with an FBI investigation resulting in 16 people arrested. The arrests follow a spate of online attacks bringing down Web sites of governments and corporations deemed by the collective to be aiding the persecution of WikiLeaks. Anonymous uses a program called the ‘Low Orbit Ion Cannon’ to overwhelm a victim’s Web site with large packets of data. Anonymous has no leader or controlling committee, relying on the collective power of its participants acting in concert to an agreed agenda. The collective operates under the motto “ We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.” Inspired by Ryan J Reilly ow.ly/5RYR8 image source Vincent Diamante ow.ly/5RYXs We are Anonymous, We are Legion, Expect us (August 4 2011)

Anonymous the secretive collective of hackers formed in 2003 to initiate Civil disobedience spread through the internet has come under intense law enforcement response in the US with an FBI investigation resulting in 16 people arrested. The arrests follow a spate of online attacks bringing down Web sites of governments and corporations deemed by the collective to be aiding the persecution of WikiLeaks. Anonymous uses a program called the ‘Low Orbit Ion Cannon’ to overwhelm a victim’s Web site with large packets of data. Anonymous has no leader or controlling committee, relying on the collective power of its participants acting in concert to an agreed agenda. The collective operates under the motto “ We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

 

Inspired by Ryan J Reilly http://ow.ly/5RYR8 image source Vincent Diamante http://ow.ly/5RYXs

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