Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!

Those that know me know that I have, to say the least, quite a problem with authority.

So when I read about an Internet group of hackers/anarchists known as Anonymous that hacked Gene Simmons's web page after he publicly announced that he endorses laws that bankrupt anyone that shares files that he doesn't want them sharing, guess whose side I took?

But that wasn't anything compared to his even more childish response. He called for their arrest and wished rape upon them.

A month or so later, everyone found out about the web site WikiLeaks, which reveals the truly corrupt practices of governments around the world. Soon after, its founder, Julian Assange, was arrested. (Wonder why that happened). Luckily, though, the web site is still going, owing to its decentralised nature. Torrent sites keep going, because they are decentralised.

Anonymous is best described as a group that punishes unethical behaviour by governments and corporations - essentially, it punishes abuse of power. In my home country of South Africa, the government is attempting to censor media it doesn't like and it wants to implement a bill allowing it to torture journalists for 25 years for saying things they don't like. This, of course, is entirely against the constitution of the country, but since when has the government had any regard for its own laws?

And then there's the movie V for Vendetta, the hero of which is an anarchist fighting a futuristic British government eerily reminiscent of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. This character, V, wears a Guy Fawkes mask and his image has become associated with anarchists around the world.

 As such, the group Anonymous (which, naturally, is decentralised, and essentially lacks a leader) uses the image and the mask to simultaneously identify with Anonymous yet be, well, anonymous.

About 3 months ago, Anonymous uploaded a video to Youtube about South Africa and its current situation. People need to be aware of this, so I have posted the video here. Watch it.

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53tCd4jusxo

If you can't watch the video, below is a transcript of it.

To the people of South Africa:  Anonymous would like to address you on the state of your society.

The people of South Africa today are suffering from mass poverty and South Africa has one of the widest gaps between rich and poor in the world. South Africa's resources, diamonds, coal and others go to America and Europe. Instead of the people enjoying the wealth of the country, big corporations like Anglo-American and small families like the Oppenheimers in fact own all the resources while parents and children suffer day in and day out with no end in sight. South Africa has the highest statistics of violence in the world with 18000 murders committed every year, 2 thousand of  them innocent children. More South Africans have been murdered in the last 6 years than the number killed in the war in Iraq over the same period. Your daughters and women are falling prey to drugs and are leaving their homes into organised gangs while the police are rendered impotent by the very laws that govern South Africa. Throughout all of this Jacob Zuma and the rest of the government are telling the world that South Africa is a rainbow democracy. How long will the people of South Africa allow this to go on? How long will you be prisoners in your own country? How long will you suffer from banks and corporations in your own country? The winds of change are blowing over Mother Earth and the time is now to take a stand against the government because they have lost all legitimacy the day the first child was killed under their watch. They have lost all legitimacy the day the first mother died because she could not afford hospital fees  or transport costs to get there. They have lost all legitimacy the day the first child was lost to drugs.

Bravery is contagious. So, people of South Africa, so stand up now and show the world that enough is enough. This year, take to the streets, all for one and one for all. Take back your country. We are Anonymous and we support you. We are black and we are white. We are coloured and we are Indian. We are young and we are old. To Jacob Zuma we say: We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget.