fame and riches of a hacker

My initial idea of a hacker was someone who was a computer nerd and had way too much time on their hands.  I saw them as people who had the ability to break into secure systems and make a mess of them.  The movie "swordfish" is about a hacker and his ability to break into the most secure systems in the world and steal money.  After watching this movie I saw hackers in a different light.  Some hackers have the ability to do a lot of damage if they choose to do so.  They can become a powerful hidden identity.  I think it would be amazing to have the ability of a great hacker.  Can you imagine if you were considered one of the best hackers in the world? You would posses the necessary tools the live a crazy life.  Personally, I would the love the "dream world" hacker where I can do anything I wished and in the process become rich.  This is obviously not the case but it would be very interesting to switch places with a world class hacker for the day.

After my "dream world" hacker theory, came this new idea "hackitivism", which has started to create some buzz in society.  This idea is not about fame and riches but about the idea of free flowing information.  "Hackitivism" fights for the people to make sure that information is available to everyone in society not just the elites.  These new hackers promote open politics, free speech and human rights.  This newly created hacker is a perfect example of people fighting for the concept of citizen media.  "Hackitivism" has somewhat taken the place of actual protests on the ground level.  Is this idea of "hackitivism" more affective then mass protests on the ground?  Personally I am not to sure.  I don't think that protests really have the effect they once did and people may start turning to new places to "stick it to the man" and "hackitivism" could be that place.