I find that sentiment deeply troubling. I think there is value to disobeying rules you disagree with, and even going out of your way to do so, assuming you're aware of the obvious risks.
> There is value in just obeying the law unless you have a very good reason to do otherwise.
Well, sure, but the reason is self-interest, not morality.
> cases where the state also considers itself above the rule of law
To me, that's a nonsensical phrase. The state creates, interprets, and enforces laws, so it is by definition above the rule of law (or perhaps one could say that the state is the rule of law).
Of course this can sometimes take about 2 seconds and you conclude that the rule is utter crap in your situation's context.
There are laws of people ("no decapitating moron drivers"), laws of society ("no imploding buildings just to see what will happen", "no dumping your waste in the river"), and laws of multinational corporations ("no copying data, no tampering when we say no tampering, everybody must buy private health insurance, ...").
It's easier, and more valid, to ignore laws at the high end of the abstract-o-sphere.
This is an interesting proposition... I hadn't really considered the relationship between validity and abstraction in the context of law. What's your reasoning behind it? Has this been written about?
Most law is pretty obviously mostly just there because of special interests at one time or another--remember, "law" refers to both "thou shalt not kill" as well "all sidewalks with thus and such distance of a school must have thus and such..." as well as "thou shall not commit sodomy".
These are all laws with different purposes, different origins, and different moral backing--to pretend that we ought to follow them, just because they are laws, is rules fetishism.
This sounds like blind obedience. "If patriotism were defined, not as blind obedience to government, not as submissive worship to flags and anthems, but rather as love of one's country, one's fellow citizens (all over the world), as loyalty to the principles of justice and democracy, then patriotism would require us to disobey our government, when it violated those principles." Howard Zinn
The reasoning behind a law is irrelevant. The effect of the law is what matters -- the effect on individual liberty, the effect on society, etc. Unjust laws are laws that are harmful to individuals, particular groups of individuals, or society as a whole -- and it is our civic duty to violate those laws, and to violate them to such an extent that they become impractical to enforce.
Unfortunately the government has learned to keep people in line with fear. We now live in an age of militarized law enforcement; it only takes one widely publicized story about someone having soldiers attack their home to get the rest of the population back in line. You see it with drug prohibition, you see it with hacktivism, and you will see it with every tyrannical law that the government enacts.
That said, I realize that many of the issues discussed on HN of late have been cases where the state also considers itself above the rule of law - and I think that's far worse. So I don't mean to argue with you - just saying that breaking the law needs to be a very conscious decision you do for a good reason. And you should be prepared to accept some consequences.