Daily quotes

[Kat Kanning]

Will try and post a quote daily.  Here's the first.

"Civil disobedience is the assertion of a right which law should give but which it denies."  Gandhi

[Kat Kanning]

"Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state has becomes lawless or, which is the same thing, corrupt. "  --Gandhi

I'm on a Gandhi kick now.  I'd say our state has become lawless and corrupt.

[Michael Fisher]

"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just [wo]man is also a prison."
-Henry David Thoreau

[Michael Fisher]

"If a law is of such nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law."
-Henry David Thoreau

"Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it."
-Albert Einstein

"Human history begins with man's act of disobedience which is at the very same time the beginning of his freedom and development of his reason."
-Erich Fromm, Psychoanalysis and Religion

"Every actual state is corrupt.  Good men must not obey laws too well."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"It is not so desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right."
-Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 1849

"As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever."
-Clarence Darrow

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me.  If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them.  I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."
-Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."
-Archbishop Desmond Tutu

"It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support.  If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders."
-Henry David Thoreau, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

"The golden rule is to act fearlessly upon what one believes to be right."
-Gandhi

"Freedom is like birth. Till we are fully free, we are slaves."
-Gandhi

"True morality consists not in following the beaten track, but in finding out the true path for ourselves and in fearlessly following it."
-Gandhi

"Nonviolent non-cooperation with evil means cooperation with all that is good."
-Gandhi

"Noncooperation is intended to pave the way to real, honorable and voluntary cooperation based on mutual respect and trust."
-Gandhi

[Michael Fisher]

Gandhi's quotes on women:

"Woman is more fitted than man to make exploration and take bolder action in nonviolence."

"If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior."

"If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with women."

"Woman, I hold, is the personification of self-sacrifice, but unfortunately today she does not realize what tremendous advantage she has over man."

[Michael Fisher]

"So long as a man does not of his own free will put himself last among his fellow creatures, there is no salvation for him. Ahimsa [self sacrifice] is the farthest limit of humility."
-Gandhi

[AlanM]

"So long as a man does not of his own free will put himself last among his fellow creatures, there is no salvation for him. Ahimsa [self sacrifice] is the farthest limit of humility."
-Gandhi

I can't agree with this one. To me, it is the essence of socialism. Placing myself, (and by extension my loved ones), last, is giving up myself, and my love. To love someone implies value, that I value someone above others. To love yourself you must value yourself.

[Michael Fisher]

"So long as a man does not of his own free will put himself last among his fellow creatures, there is no salvation for him. Ahimsa [self sacrifice] is the farthest limit of humility."
-Gandhi

I can't agree with this one. To me, it is the essence of socialism. Placing myself, (and by extension my loved ones), last, is giving up myself, and my love. To love someone implies value, that I value someone above others. To love yourself you must value yourself.

Yeah, that thought crossed my mind as well, but the words "of his own free will" makes me believe strongly in this statement.  Disobedience to a powerful authority results in great suffering, and it is the rarest and purest form of voluntary self-sacrifice.

Gandhi went too far on the concept of nonviolence, even to propose that people lay down their arms and allow the Nazis to take over their countries and kill them, as long as they refused their allegience to the Nazis.  However, I believe Gandhi had some great insights into the roll of disobedience and self-sacrifice.

[Kat Kanning]

I think the real essense of the non-violent, non-cooperation approach is that it forces the state to show itself for what it truly is, an agent of force, pure and simple.  Those in charge of the state would like people to live with this comfortable illusion that they're here to help us.  As long as the cause being put forth among the protesters is just, the illusion that the state is here to help us is ripped away when they are forced to use violence against us.

[Kat Kanning]

As an example, imagine the impact of the Burbanks and Myrtle refusing to cooperate with the authorites on this injustice in Hampton--if they refuse to cooperate until the city finds it must use violence against two women, one 96 years old.   Not that I'm advocating them doing so, just using that as an example.

Just thinking "out loud" now...there have been many incidents of old ladies/old men/children being tased by the police in this country.  There is no uproar over it among the general population.  Have they been too anestetized to react?  Is it not on a large enough scale to get a large reaction?  Does it need a purpose:  purposefully defying authority?

[Kat Kanning]

75th anniversary of Gandhi's salt march

[Michael Fisher]

Just thinking "out loud" now...there have been many incidents of old ladies/old men/children being tased by the police in this country.? There is no uproar over it among the general population.? Have they been too anestetized to react?? Is it not on a large enough scale to get a large reaction?? Does it need a purpose:? purposefully defying authority?

Civil disobedience is, by definition, setting up the government in order to show its cruelty to all.  It means to plan and carry out an act, resulting in a harsh negative reaction from the government, that causes the general public to see the suffering caused by government's reaction.

It is a method of creating change that works very well, but the media must pay attention for it to work.  The story must be told by someone who can report from a perspective favorable to those suffering due to the government's reaction.

Gandhi planned his civil disobedience in public.  It was no secret what he was going to do and what the desired effect would be.

[Pat K]

What we have here-is a complete lack of repect for the law.

Bufford T Justice

[KBCraig]

What we have here-is a complete lack of repect for the law.

Bufford T Justice

"If Junior can get up every mornin' and tie his shoes and take a pee, I'm not impressed. I'm amazed!"

Buford T. Justice

[Kat Kanning]

The moment a slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall.  He frees himself and shows the way to others.  Freedom and slavery are mental states.  Therefore the first thing is to say to yourself, "I shall no longer accept the role of a slave.  I shall not obey orders as such but shall disobey when they are in conflict with my conscience."  The so-called master may lash you and try to force you to serve him.  You will say, "No, I will not serve you for your money or under a threat."  This may mean suffering.  Your readiness to suffer will light the torch of freedom which can never be put out.

--Gandhi