DISSIDENTS

A Modern David and Goliath

By Alex Hutchins

From the free online dictionary, we learn that the definition of DISSIDENT is simply one who disagrees with further clarification of, especially with the government.

China - 4June1989

From Wikipedia, which is not the kind of source that one could use on a College Research Paper, but is one that might be used to lay a foundation from which one could build, we learn that there are  about 39 countries in the world that have been or currently is the home to over 130 dissidents, with some of the first dissidents being John, the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

Of course, we are all familiar with that famous Shakespearian quote from Hamlet,

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub:

More importantly, our own Founding Fathers, were DISSIDENTS!  It is also interesting to note that some of the same terrorist’s activities used by al-Qaeda today were used by our own patriot forces when fighting Great Brittan for our independence.  I am sure you remember Mel Gibson movies, The Patriot.

How many of us today are willing to give up our lives by fighting for a cause in which we believe so strongly?  Or, are we just a band of brothers and sisters, who want to bitch and complain?

What concerns me the most is the fact that we, Americans, now find deplorable those activities used against us, America, that we used against Great Brittan.  This reminds me of what my parents used to tell me when I was a child, “. . .  do as I say, not as I do . . .”

Iran Dissident for Equality



A few months ago, The George W. Bush Institute announced it will co-host a conference on cyber dissidents with the human rights organization Freedom House in Dallas.  Dissidents from a number of countries will travel to Dallas to report on conditions in their native lands including: Arash Kamangir of Iran, Oleg Kozlovsky of Russia, Rodrigo Diamanti of Venezuela and fellow cyber dissidents from China, Cuba, and Syria.

On March 12, 2012,  we celebrated World Day Against Cyber Censorship; and yet, censorship remains rampant in the Middle Eastern region. In Syria, Iran, and elsewhere, bloggers continue to face imprisonment, and common users have limited access to content online due to state-mandated blocking and filtering programs.

Do you ever wonder

what the world would be like

without dissidents?