2013: The Year Defiance of the State Became Cool

Well, to a point.

Too many libertarians are anarcho-nihilists, with no conception of legitimate security needs of the state. They form a civil liberties cult, elevating people like Aaron Swartz and Edward Snowden to hero status, and evincing a virtual sickness, according to Robert Stacy McCain, "a psychological complex we might call Post-Republican Anti-War Syndrome."

With that caveat, here's Reason, "The year saw many Americans rally behind rebels, explicitly siding with them over the government, in opposition to the powers-that-be":

Flipping the bird to the state doesn't guarantee universal acclaim. It certainly doesn't ensure personal safety. But more than at any time in recent memory, defying governments and their laws has a constituency—a large one—that sees such action as necessary and even heroic.

RTWT.