Civil Disobedience: The Importance And Ingenuity Of The Social Contract

Every truly democratic society is subconsciously built on the idea of a social contract. In John Locke’s famous theory, the social contract is a tacit agreement between the populace and its government. Locke proclaims that while the people have the power to grant and revoke ruling control to certain individuals, they must also release some of their rights as the government asserts dominance for the purpose of establishing an orderly society. Although the fundamental structure of a society can be outlined by the social contract, the beliefs of the ruling body are not guaranteed to be benevolent or ethically correct. The importance and ingenuity of the social contract is found in its ability to remind both parties of a nation, the government and its people, of the respective powers they hold. Historic scenes of civil disobedience illustrate how those powers are implemented

When individuals are taught to not fear their leaders, it generates a myriad of positive qualities in a society and destroys the “every man for himself” mentality. Promoting a culture centered on change by and for the masses, cooperation will not be a goal but a way of life. Peaceful resistance is not responsible for ripping apart the government. Instead, peaceful resistance locks eyes with it and forces it to pay attention. Most civil rights leaders, from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to African-American children in Birmingham’s Children's Crusade, have experienced some form of imprisonment for their actions of civil disobedience. These tactics pushed them into a holding cell, while the country held its breath in anticipation of the future of the Civil Rights Movement. The Children’s Crusade, for example, aimed to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama, after the children were trained in the ways of nonviolent protest. Thousands of crusaders braved Birmingham’s streets, full of brutal and armed police officers, because they wanted to improve their city and