Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Some thoughts on civil disobedience

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two women were arrested at San Francisco State University early today after a group of protesters broke into a campus building, angered by sanctions handed down to demonstrators at a December building takeover, authorities said.

The two women, who are not San Francisco State students, were among 19 people who broke into the Cesar Chavez Student Center at about 4 a.m., said university spokeswoman Ellen Griffin.

University police responded, pepper-sprayed the two protesters when they resisted and arrested them, Griffin said. Their names were not immediately released. The other protesters dispersed but remained on campus, Griffin said.

The protest was in response to fines that were leveled as part of misconduct charges against 11 students involved in a two-day protest in December in which activists barricaded themselves inside the business school to protest fee hikes.

Read the rest here.

Note to protesters: Martin Luther King wrote his famous letter from INSIDE the Birmingham Jail. Your conscience is not a get out of jail free card. If you feel very strongly on a matter then fine, break the law. There are some laws or proposed laws where I could see myself refusing obedience. BUT... true civil disobedience implies a willingness to take the punishment.

What is up with all of these spoiled brats who think they can seize or vandalize property that is not theirs, block traffic or do any number of other things and expect that they are going to get a pass? It doesn't work that way. Either man up and take the punishment or sign petitions like most normal people do when we are ticked with what the government is doing. But please shut up and spare me your whining about fines for things you are obviously guilty of.

Frankly I have a lot more respect for people who actually ASK to be sent to jail for their beliefs.

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