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Henry david thoreau and civil disobedience
Henry david thoreau and civil disobedience
Henry david thoreau and civil disobedience
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Civil disobedience is an effective method for fighting injustice by the way it incentivizes conversation and indirectly
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.
This is represented by Martin Luther King Jr better than no any other. In "A Letter from a Birmingham Jail", MLK reflects on his life so far as to defend it against people who condemn him for his actions. Martin deflects these criticisms by saying "an unjust law is no law at all." This fully characterizes MLK as a man who believes in laws, but doesn't believe in laws that intentionally target specific groups of people for no reason. So it becomes one's duty to protest against these laws in a productive and meaningful way culminating in civil disobedience.
Consequently, those protesting an issue must work to bring about change earnestly through truly believing in their cause. Henry David Thoreau shared this sentiment in his “Civil Disobedience”, writing that one person who maintains their beliefs can change the world “For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once done well is done forever.” Though while not all peaceful protests are successful enough to inspire true change, many of today’s free societies were inspired by those that did. Mohandas K. Gandhi was able to coerce the South African Boer government to “end the most objectionable parts of the registration law” and convince the British to grant India its independence from Britain”(Gandhi and Civil DIsobedience”). Therefore, it only takes one individual to inspire a change in the world because “Without their courage those injustices would never have received the attention required to compel national action” (“Civil Discourse and Petitioning”).
Martin Luther Partaking so as to k Jr., emulated Thoreau's example in demonstrations of common defiance. Sit-ins and tranquil mobilizes attracted thoughtfulness
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
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.
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
A current issue, we have today in Los Angeles, is the deportation of undocumented, hardworking people. One way civil disobedience is effective is because protesters do not use violence which means no one dies, no one gets hurt
Civil Disobedience Paper How would you feel if you couldn't go to school with your best friend that is a different color than you. “An unjust law is no law at all” is the quote from the great debaters, that says that you should have the right to be civilly disobedient. There are many white people that are best friends even some dating and married how would you feel if you had african american or white friends and you had to get split up? Well back in 1963 a man named Martin Luther King jr. was an african american that wanted to be like all the other white kids and people.
For example, Martin Luther King, Jr. and his use of civil disobedience is extremely honorable and still memorable today. He used the power of speech and marches to fight for African American rights. Also, Mahatma Gandhi is another influential leader that practiced civil disobedience while leading India to independence. Similarly, both heroes were harmonious in the way they stood up for their beliefs. They used nonviolent resistance to spark waves of revolution throughout the world.
"If a law is unjust a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. " With the possible permission of the founding father Thomas Jefferson, it seems only logical to conclude that our founders had a favorable liking to civil disobedience. It is a fundamental right granted to every American citizen whether they be Jus sanguinis (citizens of the blood) or Jus soli (citizens of the soil) outlined in the first amendment of the United States Bill of Rights, "... or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. " If so outlined in our "Supreme law of the land", can we not thus argue that civil disobedience is a positive right afforded to society.
First, not many people know what civil-disobedience is; so, may I ask the question? What is civil-disobedience? Civil-disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy, which is characterized by the usage of nonviolent techniques; some examples would be boycotting, picketing, tree siting and nonpayment of taxes. These acts of civil-disobedience have been use throughout history by Civil Rights Groups. Also, these are some of the ways that civil-disobedience has positively impacted our free society by giving citizens of America the right to have a voice in their 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
