“Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one.”—MT

Some take comfort in the rigid structure of laws, which seem to provide relief from taking responsibility for their own actions. It appears easy to avoid right conduct when the law is on the side of wrong doing and protecting vested interests.

Merely following an unjust law does nothing more than to perpetuate injustice. The more we oppose injustice, the more we demonstrate the courage of internal moral resolve. The more we embrace injustice, the more we demonstrate cowardice of a corrupted and vacuous spirit of righteousness.

It was Martin Luther King, Jr who reminded us that, “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the consciousness of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.”

That said, violence employed toward the end of rectifying wrong is neither noble nor productive. The result is more violence. Gandhi said, “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”

Three years ago the non-violent Occupy Wall Street protest movement began in New York City’s Wall Street financial district. The movement received global attention and spawned other worldwide Occupy movements against social and economic inequality. The main issues addressed by Occupy Wall Street were social and economic inequality, greed, corruption plus the perceived undue influence of corporations on government—particularly from the financial services sector. After many months the movement was forcibly disbanded by those who wished to avoid reform and the effort diminished to a burning ember, but is now being revived.

The result of the setback has allowed greed and corruption to flourish even more. The clock has now moved forward three years and the flaws have grown into monstrous forms of social inequity with the gap between the super wealthy and the rest of humanity at unprecedented levels. A recent Huffington Post article thoroughly examined this imbalance and concluded that unless corrected, we face dire consequences for virtually every problem facing our society.

I encourage everyone to read the article and contemplate where your moral compass leads. The more we oppose injustice, the more we demonstrate the courage of internal moral resolve. The more we embrace injustice, the more we demonstrate cowardice of a corrupted and vacuous spirit of righteousness. This is not only a moral issue, it is one of societal continuation.