Imagine a regime with freedom of speech, where it is perfectly acceptable -- perhaps encouraged -- for everyone to publicly declare the things about the government, or more broadly, the current institutions of power, that they would like to see changed, by force or violence if necessary. Institutions of power do tend to cement themselves into self-perpetuating power, so drastic means may often seem necessary, at least at first.
Furthermore, by publicly declaring, it becomes possible for like-minded revolutionaries to discover each other, meet, and coordinate to achieve their goals. It's social networking: do you merely "like" something, or do you actually "like" something enough to die, or at least kill, for it? Hopefully though, discussion will result in peaceful political action, because when there's enough people, democracy is an effective means of change.
Of course, we don't have that kind of freedom of speech these days. Declaring you want to overthrow the government by force and violence, and plotting with others to do so, will certainly get you tortured to death in Gitmo as a terrorist.
Inspired by reading the Declaration of Independence in Boston Common.
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