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Traffic Lights and Civil Disobedience
On a daily basis, we allow ourselves to be institutionalized by social and government law.
Drivers wait for an automated, mindless machine to flash green: how often is the intersection they wait to cross utterly empty with no cars in sight? Why don't they simply drive through?
Are we so enslaved by "the law" that we obey it even when compliance flies in the face of doing what we plainly know is harmless and personally beneficial? Why?!?
We are not dogs. And we should not demean ourselves by sitting on command for no other reason than "because." Obediance in the face of reason is an affront to your humanity - a slap in the face to your intelligent mind. Don't sit back and take it. Do something.
This is a call to disobey - rationally and responsibly you should break laws. Note: I am not advocating action that will get you thrown in jail. That said, what better place to demonstrate your rational mind overcoming fears and latent social programming than at an empty intersection? The drivers around you will scoff at your blatant disregard for the law. They will shake their heads and call you crazy because your actions will have made them uncomfortable. Their discomfort will not easily subside. Like a thorn in their minds it can fester and spur change.
And what do you get out of this? You'll be that much closer to whereever you're going. Plus, you'll have that rare sensation of doing what you know is right in the face of opposition.
Running red lights by driving through empty intersections: a modern civil and social disobedience.