Anonymous

[widdershins]

Anonymous is pretty much the philosophy that if you band together under one name you can accomplish anything.
It has no direct goal or purpose, though it's typical goals are along the lines of fighting for freedom of speech, fighting against shitty governments, fighting against legal injustices, and fighting against shitty people.
They've taken action against pedophilia websites on the deep web, they've had massive anti capitalist marches, they've had marches in america against many of the shitty things our government has done, they've hacked websites for political and moral reasons, they've taken part in helping the homeless, and countless other things.
It's a philosophy held by many who see injustices in the world who want to bring change.
Keep in mind a massive majority of them are activists, and don't take part in hacking websites.

Unfortunately "name" is not enough.  They look like heroes for this, jerks for that, idiots for this, geniuses for that.  Anyone can take a name and then do anything they want in that name.  They can make that name look good, bad, petty, indifferent or just plain stupid.  And that is exactly what is happening with Anonymous.  They at least need a centralized philosophy; perhaps a code of conduct or some bylaws.  To really BE something, they need leadership, which just isn't possible with this type of organization, or at least not easy or safe.

I agree fully with the underlying idea.  The world is full of corruption and the system is designed to give the corrupt, the rich and the powerful the upper hand in all cases, at all times.  Only the corrupt can fight the corruption in a world like the one in which we live.  It's kind of beautiful when stated like that.  The problem is there's no way to control in what way they're corrupt.  There's no way for them to say, "He's not with us."  This leads to a disorganized system which is ultimately not that effective.  The IDEA is awesome.  The reality, not so much.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

WHAT DO WE WANT?
(crowd) We're not quite sure
WHEN DO WE WANT IT?
(crowd) Uhhhhhhh...now? Maybe in 40 years?  We're not quite sure..

[Shiranu]

[Jannabear]

Unfortunately "name" is not enough.  They look like heroes for this, jerks for that, idiots for this, geniuses for that.  Anyone can take a name and then do anything they want in that name.  They can make that name look good, bad, petty, indifferent or just plain stupid.  And that is exactly what is happening with Anonymous.  They at least need a centralized philosophy; perhaps a code of conduct or some bylaws.  To really BE something, they need leadership, which just isn't possible with this type of organization, or at least not easy or safe.

I agree fully with the underlying idea.  The world is full of corruption and the system is designed to give the corrupt, the rich and the powerful the upper hand in all cases, at all times.  Only the corrupt can fight the corruption in a world like the one in which we live.  It's kind of beautiful when stated like that.  The problem is there's no way to control in what way they're corrupt.  There's no way for them to say, "He's not with us."  This leads to a disorganized system which is ultimately not that effective.  The IDEA is awesome.  The reality, not so much.

How are they corrupt?
And the central "Code" is basically this.
Massive disobedience.
Peaceful disobedience.
Hacktivism to take down corrupt governments and pedophilia websites (though not shared by all, it is a part of what anonymous does)
Anti capitalism (though not shared by all, it is a very common theme)
Socialism/communism (though not shared by all, it is a very common theme)
Banding together under one name to accomplish a common goal.
That's the most common themes found in anonymous, there are other goals, but this is primarily what anons stand for.

[Green Bottle]

I agree with the ''idea of Anonymous , and i think that most of the stuff they do is good stuff.
Quote
''Massive disobedience.
Peaceful disobedience.
Hacktivism to take down corrupt governments and pedophilia websites (though not shared by all, it is a part of what anonymous does)
Anti capitalism (though not shared by all, it is a very common theme)
Socialism/communism (though not shared by all, it is a very common theme)
Banding together under one name to accomplish a common goal.''

Quote
''
To really BE something, they need leadership, which just isn't possible with this type of organization, or at least not easy or safe.''

Yes, because any leadership would automatically become a target, so i think the way it is at the moment is better and safer.

This pic was taken in Glasgow last year.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

There is still the inherent lack of accountability with groups where nobody is in charge or willing to stand up and say,  YES, I AM THE CRIMINAL who hacked into your computer!  Like it or not these are generally considered crimes and crimes are not always a bad thing, but think about the people who were arrested and jailed over the years to risk life and limb to further their cause..With anonymous there doesn't seem to be anyone willing to take those risks it's all nice and well that someone might be at risk hacking and so forth, but the source is almost never revealed which always brings into question the validity of the claims.  It's like being in court accused of murder and the star witness is a completely faceless voice behind the wall saying you killed so and so..
I want to know my accusers and not just assume them to be good simply because they wear a theatrical mask. If any group can hide behind the mask that also means that the very same people they want to bring down can use the exact same tactics and they do. You want transparency in government?  Well let's have a bunch of anonymous stooges run the show.. We have a plutocracy run by anonymous faces dumping billions into stealing elections so why is it ok for another group of likewise anonymous people to ask anyone to trust them over the other anonymous 'doners' ? To much hypocrisy involved..

[Baruch]

Neither the oligarchy nor their opponents can show their true reptilian face ;-)  Choose the Hitler pill or the Stalin pill.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Neither the oligarchy nor their opponents can show their true reptilian face ;-)  Choose the Hitler pill or the Stalin pill.

Obama is a reptile..it's on the internet.. See? PROOF!  They can't say things that aren't true on the internet..

[Unbeliever]

Neither the oligarchy nor their opponents can show their true reptilian face ;-)  Choose the Hitler pill or the Stalin pill.

Is this a case of the "excluded middle"?

Can there not be some combination of the extremes that can be both economically and ecologically sustainable?

[Baruch]

Is this a case of the "excluded middle"?

Can there not be some combination of the extremes that can be both economically and ecologically sustainable?

It is called Poland.  It sucks to be in the middle!

[AllPurposeAtheist]

It sucks to be in the middle!

I dunno.. The middle seemed to work out for the fictional character Malcolm.. at least till they cancelled him..