Dissident
For the Pearl Jam song, see Dissident (song).
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively opposes an established opinion, policy, or structure. The term is most often used to refer to political dissidents, usually against authoritarian regimes or established constitutional order (although there are rare uses of the phrase philosophical dissident''). Political dissidents usually use non-violent means of
political dissent, including voicing criticism of the
government or dominating ideology, but dissidents can also attempt to displace or overthrow the established government by achieving popular support and sparking a
revolution or
rebellion. In
totalitarian regimes these dissidents are often punished with lengthy prison sentences,
execution or economic deprivation.
Authors such as
Noam Chomsky,
Thomas Szasz,
Harry Levine and
Antonio Escohotado advocate for an extension of the meaning of dissidence or dissent to
pharmacological dissidence, which would be defined as active or passive opposition to the body of supranational laws historically devised and then enacted or enforced by the
United States of America through the
United Nations (Narcotics Control Board
www.incb.org), which prohibits the trade, and in many cases the mere possession or consumption of certain chemical substances and plant species, because of their mind-altering properties (vid the definition and persecution of
witchcraft, black
magic or
sorcery).To left-wing critics, the
Prohibition of Certain Drugs by the UN, would be another instance of
imperialism. United States would be trying, via double standards, to effectively monopolize for its exclussively american exploitation, the lucrative trade of natural resources of foreign countries, for example:
Coca, natural resource of
Perú,
Colombia and
Bolivia, source of cocaine (a local anesthesic, vasoconstrictor, and CNS adrenergic agonist and euphoriant) and of the flavouring liquor of the
Coca-Cola beverage.
Opium, natural resource of
Afghanistan,
Vietnam and neighboring countries.
Cannabis, natural resource of
Mexico and of much of the
world, also called "marijuana", a pejorative and racist term divulged by American prohibitionists such as
Harry Anslinger to denigrate mexicans through his cultural use of cannabis
cigarettes.A pharmacological dissident would be, according to the spiritual/philosophical movement against prohibition of certain drugs, any one who opposses such politics. This people, as other types of voices expressing dissent, frequently suffer
persecution by the State because of their beliefs or lifestyle.The worldwide
political persecution of pharmacological dissidents under the World Regime of Certain Drugs
Prohibition includes
torture such as
confinement (or "
jail"), frequently suffered by non-violent offenders, supposedly authors of
crimes without victim (the existence of which is broadly definable as
political dissent criminalization).
It has been widely alleged that the
USSR and
China used or use
involuntary commitment against dissidents. Dissidents constantly face
stalking and harassment by authorities, who often record or keep a close watch on their activities, and gather incriminating evidence that would lead to their eventual imprisonment. Many dissidents, as a result, are forced into hiding, moving from one place to another.
Similarly,
social dissidents openly oppose dominant social attitudes. In western
democratic societies political and social dissidents are widely claimed to be free from government pressure, but there have been notable instances of persecution, such as during the
Palmer Raids.
Militant dissidents are usually in the form of armed
paramilitary groups whose aim is usually to overthrow a government or regime, or otherwise impose changes on the established order. Since militant dissidents are almost always militarily disadvantaged compared to the ruling power, such groups usually resort to
asymmetric warfare,
guerrilla warfare, or in some cases,
terrorism, to further their cause. Such groups are often denounced as terrorists by the ruling power regardless, though they often consider themselves
freedom fighters or
resistance movements.
Noted dissidents include
Akbar Gangi,
Andrei Sakharov,
Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
Robert Havemann,
Natan Sharansky,
Timothy Leary,
Sergei Kovalev,
Vladimir Bukovsky,
Mikhail Trepashkin,
Harry Wu,
Lech Wałęsa,
Václav Havel,
Aung San Suu Kyi,
Armando Valladares,
Francis Seow,
Wei Jingsheng,
Ernst Zündel,
Nelson Mandela,
Noam Chomsky,
Susan Sontag,
Lester Grinspoon,
Ann Druyan,
Milton Friedmann,
Fernando Savater,
Robert "Bobby" Fischer,
Hugo Chávez,
Antonio Escohotado,
John Lennon*
List of Chinese dissidents*
List of Singaporean dissidents*
List of Soviet dissidents
