Let our descendants not think none of us did something. A few did something. A few disrupted the security apparatus. A few acted out of conscience. And from a few, many can be added, if not today or tomorrow, then at some undisclosed time in the beautiful future.
___________
For the first time, someone figured out how to resist. Elin Ersson is a hero. Adults will not create lasting change on their own; change must come from the young and foolish:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/25/swedish-student-plane-protest-stops-mans-deportation-afghanistan
Update: apparently, the male subject of Ersson's intervention was not the same person she originally believed was on the plane but a different Afghan refugee, one with a criminal record. He was eventually deported. Yet, the lesson is the same: if a citizen cannot disrupt the security state non-violently in favor of a universal principle, the security state's convenience has superceded individual agency. Whether such supersedence is appropriate depends on whether a publicly-engaged citizenry has access to all the facts and the ability to remove leadership. Some call this democracy in action; others would prefer citizens practice governance once every four years and not a second more.
["The majority will always vote for the status quo because their livelihood depends on it." -- Michael Booth (2014)]
Bonus: https://www.dw.com/en/elin-ersson-and-ismail-k-how-an-activist-tried-in-vain-to-rescue-an-asylum-seeker/a-47295356
___________
For the first time, someone figured out how to resist. Elin Ersson is a hero. Adults will not create lasting change on their own; change must come from the young and foolish:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/25/swedish-student-plane-protest-stops-mans-deportation-afghanistan
Update: apparently, the male subject of Ersson's intervention was not the same person she originally believed was on the plane but a different Afghan refugee, one with a criminal record. He was eventually deported. Yet, the lesson is the same: if a citizen cannot disrupt the security state non-violently in favor of a universal principle, the security state's convenience has superceded individual agency. Whether such supersedence is appropriate depends on whether a publicly-engaged citizenry has access to all the facts and the ability to remove leadership. Some call this democracy in action; others would prefer citizens practice governance once every four years and not a second more.
["The majority will always vote for the status quo because their livelihood depends on it." -- Michael Booth (2014)]
Bonus: https://www.dw.com/en/elin-ersson-and-ismail-k-how-an-activist-tried-in-vain-to-rescue-an-asylum-seeker/a-47295356
