This Should Be Obvious...

The word "illegal" does not equal wrong. Similarly, the word "legal" has no intrinsic relationship to right.

This is not an original idea. But it's one that seems to be overlooked in modern societies that have the resources to be frivolous. The words legal and illegal are in no way a remark upon the morality of an action, movement, or idea. They simply foreshadow the possibility of consequences of said actions, movements, and ideas. There are times when it is wrong to abide by a "legal" law. The only question then is whether or not one is willing to endure the consequences of performing an illegal action.

The balance of legal/illegal, right/wrong seems to have tipped so far in the favor of money that any action that strikes a blow to this paradigm should be, for the present time only, celebrated as an act equatable to freeing people caught in bonds of slavery. This idea, that any act in the spirit of restoring balance is a noble one, should be frequently reassessed. As a more natural balance returns, certain disobedience that was previously for the greater good becomes detrimental to it. This is the nature of balance. A constantly changing situation requires different degrees of action to maintain an equilibrium. Look to any conceivable system for evidence that this is true. When a system is severely weighted in one direction, a swift and unprejudiced strike at the heavy side will be very effective in moving the system towards a balance. But if the same swift and unprejudiced strike were levied upon one side of a system only slightly out of whack, the inevitable result is an even less balanced system that has simply shifted to favor the other side.

Feel free to dispute me if you feel differently. I just don't think that government, military, police, or corporations have any innate right to govern. They are just people, albeit disembodied in the form of a larger organizational structure. Their only true value comes in the detached application of fair action. But they've convinced enough people that they are integral to the functioning of our "civilized" form of existence. Sure there are good cops. Sure there are good pharmaceutical company executives. Sure there are good congressman. But the chances of you ever crossing paths with one of them is pretty slim. So when the police pull you over, don't let them search you even if you have absolutely nothing to hide. Have a nice conversation with the officer while he works on getting a warrant issued. He might be able to provide more educated insight on the distinctions between legality and morality, having lived in the space between the two 10 hours a day, 4 days a week. But more than likely he'll just send you on your way because right or wrong, no one likes to do paperwork.