The heart of the attitude of ethical hacking in general (and here the speaker describes hacktivism in particular, but nearly ALL hackers think of themselves this way) is an analogy: hacking is to the internet as an immune system is to an organism. This is true is both ways, as immune systems are what makes it possible for organisms to remain healthy. But immune systems can also misfunction, making us sick or even giving us cancer.
So our challenge is how to use hacking in a healthy way. This TED talk is an insightful discussion of that: