this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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Shoplifting

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learn the difference between illegal and immoral (slrpnk.net)
submitted 9 months ago by stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net to c/shoplifting@slrpnk.net
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[–] hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I'm from the generation of hackers who's old enough to have believed in the hacker's manifesto but young enough to have spread the whole of "white hat/black hat" meme and yeah... It was completely bullshit the whole time. Today there are still people who I talk to who are like "oh, you're not one of those bad hackers though, right?" Like which ones? The ones who work for governments or who keep banks from getting hacked, cause yeah I've worked on DRM and helped keep things expensive that should be free. It feels bad because it is bad, and they lie to you and tell you you're "making sure Grandma is safe on the internet" but these fucking companies are feeding your grandmas conspiracy theories. They are the bad ones, and the "white hats" are keeping the injustice going...just like some other motherfuckers who like to wear white hoods and defend the status quo.

Yeah, fuck that. Illegalism is 100% legit and I wish you the best.

[–] j_roby@slrpnk.net 7 points 9 months ago

As someone who came of age in the renegade weed cultivation scene/culture, I feel this so hard. And I'm sure the community I was a part then would feel this too.
I really do wish tho, that more people in that community have/had that mentality of spreading that same idea outward towards more things that also benefit people, instead of just the nimby-ist/faux-libertarian vibe that permeates the culture nowadays...

[–] punkisundead@slrpnk.net 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Image Description:

Looks like a screenshot from tumblr post, its only text:

I think people need to be more comfortable with illegalism and I'm not kidding. Of course the more legal something is, the safer and easier it is to do, but the more people who disregard the law, the harder it is to enforce. There are plenty of laws on the books that people just ignore and are never or rarely policed.

Becoming more comfortable with little illegal activities makes you more comfortable with bigger more important illegal activities. Additionally, it is crucial to build a wall of silence. Nobody talks everybody walks.

People who give out food without a permit, hold a march without a permit, grow a garden without a permit, are more likely to be people you could turn to to work with on preventing an eviction, or keeping people out of cop hands, or helping your friend Jane get crucial healthcare when it's not legal in your state.

Communities comfortable with these acts won't call the cops, and then nobody knows that it's happening.

People have got to shift from both the idea that lawful = good/ illegal = bad, and that the illegality of something means that's the end of it, and the only fight left is to make it legal again.

#in tandem with this is the idea that the more people reject someone's authority as 'inherent' the harder people are to control #anarchism #illegalism #LJsm

[–] punkisundead@slrpnk.net 5 points 9 months ago

I used an online to tool to get the text, but modern programs and especially smartphones can get the text on device. Copying the text into the post body can make it more acessible, as do image descriptions in general.

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 3 points 9 months ago

As long as there is a criminal class, I am of it.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip -2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

There is usually a reason something is deemed illegal by society.

And no, the answer isn't always just greed. But more like its hurting other people, even when you think it doesn't.

[–] stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If something hurts other people, you shouldn't do it because it's immoral, whether it's legal or not.

You, as a person, have a responsibility to decide whether an act is moral or immoral and act accordingly, regardless of what other people decided about it in the past.

Obeying the law because you assume the people who made the law had a good reason abrogates your own responsibility for your actions.

[–] The_Terrible_Humbaba@slrpnk.net 8 points 9 months ago

I agree completely with what you're saying, but what the other user is saying isn't wrong either: there is always a reason for something to be illegal, and, before you decide to break a law, you should make sure you know why it's illegal and what the possible consequences of breaking it (other than legal) might be.

It's sort of like writing a book or making a film. There are lots of "rules" to follow about how those things should be done, and there are plenty of good reasons for those rules to exist, however all the best artists tend to break those rules - but that's because they know what they are doing, and how to make it work. Another example is the billionaire submarine which crashed. They chose not to follow a lot of safety regulations in regard to the making/using of the sub, and the result was what we know.

In short, if you want to break the rules in regard to anything, it's important to be aware of what exactly you are doing, and why those rules exist in the first place.