As the Internet breaks down the last justifications for a professional class of politicians, it also builds up the tools for replacing them.

There is no justice in following unjust laws.

Reality is painful -- it's so much easier to keep doing stuff you know you're good at or else to pick something so hard there's no point at which it's obvious you're failing -- but it's impossible to get better without confronting it.

But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. The world's entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations. Want to read the papers featuring the most famous results of the sciences? You'll need to send enormous amounts to publishers like Reed Elsevier.

Being around some of the bright lights of the technology world and having them expect great things helps you sit down and do it seriously.

There is no justice in following unjust laws. It's time to come into the light and, in the grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture.

As the Internet breaks down the last justifications for a professional class of politicians, it also builds up the tools for replacing them.