What's right?

When you read stories like these, it's hard to figure out which way is up.

Here is a woman who is doing what she thinks is the right thing... and for her trouble, she is getting threatened with fines and jail.  She is technically breaking the law by not having a permit. But she is following what she considers a higher law.

Here is a man doing what he thinks is right ... but for very different reasons.  He is breaking a law to try to come out ahead in another law-mandated situation.  I can't say that I think what he is doing is right ... but I also think that we are pushing more and more people into breaking "laws" because of the way we are structuring our society ...

Ugh... Monday, I started classes and the first one is a class called Anthropology and Human Rights ... but it is an intro to human rights with particular attention to the UN's declaration on human rights.  We spent quite a bit of time talking about the difference between the ideal of the declaration and the world we live in ... the prof wanted us to feel encouraged, optimistic (that we don't kill as many people in war as they did in "pre" history). 

So, we should be happy and thankful for the bit of progress we have made ... and overlook (at least at times) the progress we have left to make.  I am trying to have perspective about it ... I really am, but it just reinforces the question: what's right?