Today’s common sense was often yesterday’s crime. What used to be considered illegal or radical, later becomes accepted, even celebrated.
Galileo was condemned for saying the Earth orbits the sun, today his discoveries are fundamental to modern science. Gandhi was imprisoned for leading protests, now he is a global icon of peace and justice.
Laws and norms are not fixed. They evolve, often lagging behind the moral or scientific truths that brave individuals dare to defend ahead of their time. What was illegal then is often visionary in hindsight.
Likewise, what seems normal and harmless today may be condemned tomorrow. Just as History casts a critical eye on past norms, future societies may look back on certain everyday choices of ours with condemnation.
Which mass surveillance whistleblowers, psychedelic researchers, cryptography scientists, Bitcoin developers, and digital rights activists —branded as rebels today— will be celebrated as heroes tomorrow?
And which ‘model citizens’ will be banished as villains?
What about yourself? Would your behaviour today have made you a criminal in the past — or might it make you one in the future?