I believe that civil disobedience keeps an unjust government in check. Civil disobedience is like a peaceful protest. Some people believe that it destroys a civil society and shows defiance for law and order. That is not the case. The United States government has to abide by the laws of the constitution.
It ensures that one's voice is heard without throwing a temper tantrum or bringing on the destruction of other things or people. And it also ensures that we do not go on silently, always bitterly muttering to ourselves about how we wish things would change, but never gathering up enough courage or motivation to actually change these things. Civil Disobedience is an act of peaceful disagreement, a protest which does no harm to others but which one hopes will bring about a change which one believes is good. Now as far as the impact that civil disobedience has on a free society, I believe that it is a positive one. My reasons being that civil disobedience encourages one to use their rights to voice their opinions in a non-violent way.
Disobedience has paved the way for many of the most important decisions in our history as the United States of America. In some instances, the act of disobedience resulted in a major change in history itself. A widely known example would be the events leading towards the American Revolution, where a simple band of colonists took on the entirety of the British army. The British Parliament placed many taxes, including the Stamp Act, Tea Act, and many other significant taxes on the citizens living in the city of Boston.
"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. "-Socrates. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society because the society is not free unless it's able to check the government. As long as the protest of the law remains peaceful it is a good thing. It is the public telling the government that they will not let them gain to much power and crush their human rights.
On what was expected to be another day for every American became a burning memory in both Americans and America’s history. September 11, 2001 was the day where fear shook America into recklessly declaring war on terror against Iraq. At 8:46 am, the North Tower of the World Trade Center is interrupted by the American Airline Flight 11 by Mohammed Atta and the hijackers (History); seventeen long minutes later, the South Tower of the World Trade Center is also interrupted by the United Airlines Flight 175 by the other hijackers (History). In order to fight for the endangerment of America’s freedom was being attacked, President George Bush and the Bush Administration contrustred an aggressive invasion in the Middle East. In response to this, George
I consider civil disobedience to be an easily-ignored pillar upon which our democracy was founded. In fact we are only established as a nation now because our founding fathers engaged in civil disobedience themselves. We were in a “social contract” of sorts with Great Britain and when we felt that they had not upheld their part of the contract (they did not allow us to create courts to maintain order, or to create a navy to defend ourselves, or to sustain our economy due to an inability to trade with any other countries), Thomas Jefferson concluded that it was our not only our right, but also our duty to break away. And it was Thomas Jefferson that combined all of the works of the great thinkers before him such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
If slaves never disobeyed the former laws defending slavery, there would still be slavery in America. As a human being, one disobeys purposely to make an impact on certain issues or events that society disagrees on and that is how progress is made. Disobedience is indeed a valuable trait that promotes social progress. In order to change or make an impact there has to be some form of disobedience.
Although peaceful resistance against laws created by the government has been recently used more frequently to express political dissent towards a government and is done entirely by civilians of their nation, it has been effective over the decades as political figures such as Martin Luther King Junior has proved. Peaceful resistance has proven effective only when there has been a truly repressive control on those protesting against their government. This truly repressive control must be something worth fighting for in order to make a reform that would improve society. For example, when women fought for their right to be included in suffrage, they succeeded and did so because their belief of the government’s restriction on them was truly something
Civil Disobedience is an important moral responsibility of a citizen, however it should not get to the level of illegal activity under any circumstances, because great reform can be brought peacefully not violently. In the title named "On Civil Disobedience" by Mohandas K. Ghandi once said: “No country has ever become or will ever become, happy though victory in war”(Mohandas K. Gandhi , 148). Even that long ago, when war was at high, and people embraced it, he knew that the only thing war brought was death, and depression among civilians. This method of civil disobedience has only resulted into more wars, and no real solutions. The most efficient way to the be civilly disobedient is to be peaceful, but willing to stand up for your cause.
I believe that civil disobedience is good for the advancement of the American society. This a simple fact which has been proven many times by history all around the world. A few examples of important historical participants and leaders in civil disobedience include Mohandas Gandhi, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and much more. Mohandas Gandhi was an Indian man who spent his life protesting the unjust anti-Indian law in Britan using, you guessed it, civil disobedience. Most importantly on March 30, 1930, when he lead a defiance march to the sea.
People's justification to engage in civil disobedience rests on the unresponsiveness that their engagement to oppose an unjust law receives. People who yearn for a change in a policy might sometimes find themselves in a dead end because their “attempts to have the laws repealed have been ignored and legal protests and demonstrations have had no success” (Rawls 373). What Rawls says is that civil disobedience is a last option to oppose an unjust law; therefore, providing civil disobedients with a justification for their cause. Civil disobedience is the spark of light that people encountered at the dead end and they hope that this spark of light will illuminate to show that an unjust law should not exist at all. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his “Letter from
People have always found ways to show their disapproval of governmental decisions and took action into it. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey laws, without using violence. Uncivil disobedience is the refusal to obey laws, using violence. Civil disobedience is more effective in the case of Martin Luther King Junior, the walk-outs, and the sit-ins. Civil disobedience is effective because protesters will not kill anyone so, fewer lives are lost and because it shows that non-violence demonstrates strength.
In dedication to his wife, Mark Twain wrote ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer;’ inspired by his classmates and life as an adventurous young boy. Mainly being written for the enjoyment of young boys and girls; Mark Twain hoped for adults to also be reminded of their younger childhood adventures. Characters Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are a combination of the characteristics of three young boys Mark Twain knew as a kid. Tom Sawyer, was purposely not given an age, but most people assume he’s about eleven or twelve, judging by his childish love for Becky Thatcher. Showing off and trying to impress her to get her attention shows him as a kid, yet proving it goes beyond ‘puppy love’ by passing notes and taking the blame for her in school showing the
Civil disobedience has always been a positive impact on a free society. It is a necessary freedom. We have seen in the past that it has made nothing but great changes. It has given me, and millions of other people countless opportunities. All of the people who have practiced civil disobedience have made revolutionary changes to our government.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world” These astonishing words that Mahatma Gandhi said made me suppose that Civil Disobedience is a Moral Responsibility of a citizen because when breaking certain laws, a citizen perhaps incorporate a good intention or a bad intention for breaking it. Citizens break the law occasionally to have their beliefs be heard so change can be assemble. Some ways that Civil Disobedience can be a Moral Responsibility would be breaking the law for the right intentions. An example of breaking the law for the right intentions could be The Salt March that Gandhi Created or, Rosa Parks standing up for her beliefs about her actions, MLK wanting equal rights with caucasian. Illegal Immigrants coming into the
