Civil disobedience...

Civil disobedience.

Like so many generations before me, I suppose there's plenty to like when it comes to that phrase. Two fairly simple words paired together to form what will eventually become a storm of opinions and grievances, swirling gregariously in the face of inequities and plain ol' evil.

Yes, good citizens, evil is still out there, though I imagine it looks a bit different than it did 60 or 70 years ago. It's not the “whites-only” signs hanging over restrooms and drinking fountains. There aren't scores of women in the street picketing for equal pay or the right to vote.

Evil today has taken on a much more visually palatable form, shielding America's crème de la crème from the pains of reality. We talk about homelessness, putting forth images of dirty, long-haired and bearded men panhandling on corners, while the reality is families — that's right, mom, dad and the 2.5 kids we were all promised — scrounging around in dumpsters, forced to live in their cars.

We talk about the failure of the housing market and we quickly fast-forward to a shot of a foreclosure sign outside of a nice, suburban home, with the family sadly packing its belongings into a U-Haul destined for a slightly smaller, yet still suburban home in a more “urban” part of town.

Of course, they forget to show you the pictures of families being forcibly removed from homes our upper-echelon wouldn't use the restroom in, crying and fighting for a shack or a shanty — what a wonderful rich-person word — because it's all they have in the world.

We talk about low-income families, immediately throwing up the images of Ma and Jed, sitting on their couch with a full pack of Marlboros eating macaroni and cheese sandwiches which the children — most in dirty, half-open diapers — flail around on the floor to the tune of Spongebob Squarepants.

Forgotten are the single moms and single dads, working two — sometimes even three — in an effort to keep food on the table. Because they work, they are ineligible for state or federal assistance, although they would probably be too proud to take it in the first place.

Yes, my little pool of guppies, the disparages between the popular, politically-powered stereotypes and the reality of American life continue to grow. While the world might have been black and white at one time, it now seems to be an endless shade of gray, a gaping chasm of goals we have failed to meet and the shadows of dreams we once chased.

According to merriam-webster.com, civil disobedience is “the refusal to obey government demands and commands, especially as a non-violent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.”

And while the examples of civil disobedience have been many during the past several years — widely seen during the liberation of Egypt and the aftermath of the 2004 Ukranian presidential elections — it's certainly nothing new.

American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay entitled “Civil Disobedience: Resistance to Civil Government” which was widely published in 1849. In it, Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice.

Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War. His work went on to heavily influence Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other non-violent activists.

How effective is civil disobedience? Well, if you look at the progress made around the world recently, from Egypt to Libya, it would seem to have a rather profound effect, especially in places where the public is fighting for its right to democracy.

In the United States, however, it's an unclear picture, at best. With so many civil liberties already provided to us, it would seem easy enough to let certain things — from the corruption of government and politics through the lobby to the greed of corporate America — slide in our day-to-day lives. And while ongoing movements, such as Occupy Wall Street, have had an impact on the media through awakened awareness, the chances of it actually influencing changes in policy and law is small, if any.

The online group Anonymous — which has claimed responsibility for a number of Internet attacks on companies and groups allegedly looking to censor free speech — is just one group that has formed in the face of what they perceive as greed and evil.

However, the causes which are closest to our own hearts are as diverse as the people who make up this great nation and this world. Whether it's funding for cancer research, the fight against censorship or the acceptance of illegal campaign contributions and kickbacks by our politicians — all the way from the president to the mayor of our city — there is little doubt change is needed.

What are you willing to do to make this a better world?