Disobedience Shaping Society
One idea from Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience that can be applied to life and society today is the prospect of not allowing Government to have absolute control in your life, and don’t let it manipulate you. Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience while being imprisoned for something he viewed as incorrect. Whilst in prison, he unloaded his resentment to the government into this story. He encourages everyone to have their own sets of views, and regardless of what the Government says is true or not, stick to your personal views. In a quote from Civil Disobedience, Thoreau says, “Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect…”
In the essay “Civil Disobedience,” written by Henry David Thoreau, he stated, “Government is at best an expedient, but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.” This expresses his opinion about the government that controlled America during the mid 1800s. His essay expresses that the government only addresses how to deal with a majority of the population, instead of finding a way to serve individuals. Thoreau’s viewpoint on the government is why he feels the need for resistance. For Thoreau, resistance means doing what a person believes is morally right.
Civil Disobedience In the dictionary civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest, but Thoreau and Martin Luther King have their own beliefs to civil disobedience. In Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” he writes about the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the dictates of laws. Martin Luther King uses civil disobedience as something that effectuates change in the government. Both Thoreau and Martin Luther King has similar yet different perspectives on civil disobedience.
In his essay “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau asserts that the government is not needed and must be disobeyed for the sake of the people. Over a hundred years later after Thoreau published his essay, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” similarly shows the need for the disobeyment of the government. Thoreau asserts that governments are not necessary, and must be dissolved. While King follows a similar ideal, he believes that the government is inherently good, but that some of the laws passed by the government are cruel to people. While they are both appealing emotionally and ethically, King’s is more sound in argument and portrays a more practical way of civil disobedience.
Civil disobedience is an idea that Henry Thoreau wrote about in the 1800's, which later inspired political activists to lead nonviolent protests that effected change in their government. In my research during this assignment, I read that people influenced by Thoreau's writings included philosopher Martin Buber, Mohandas Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. In reading "A Letter from Burmingham Jail," by Dr. King, alongside Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government," interesting comparisons and conclusions can be made on the subject of civil disobedience. Both Henry Thoreau and Dr. King used all three persuasive techniques presented at the start of the assignment, however, the way that Martin Luther King Jr. brought emotional life to ethical words is
As Martin Luther King Jr. observes in his "Letters From a Birmingham Jail," it is a sad thing when people condemn the effects of civil disobedience without considering the conditions which festered and led to such a nonviolent protest. As Thoreau writes in his "Civil Disobedience," too much respect for the law can lead people to blindly to terrible things. Consider the Germans who, out of fear of the law, committed the atrocities of the Holocaust; or, the participants of the Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures, in which men were instructed to continuously 'shock' a hidden person, and which, goaded on by the authority figure, continued even until the subject of the punishment (in actuality an actor) 'died.' Those who choose to take action to take down laws that do not uphold the morals of the people as a whole work instead towards a society based on considered values that respect all of its
Henry David Thoreau, an American philosopher and abolitionist, once stated, “ Disobedience is the true foundation of Liberty. The obedient must be slaves”. Thoreau asserted that disobedience is the reason America claimed it 's Liberty and those who are obedient are the Government 's slaves who don 't realize what 's around them. I acquire that Disobedience is a very important act and helps us progress and achieve goals people said were impossible, but good people didn 't listen In the 1960’s, California witnessed an unexpected Civil Rights movement inspired by Cesar Chavez.
Henry David Thoreau’s essay, Civil Disobedience, goes deeply into the presence of unjust laws, and what can be done to combat these in the growing and rising United States. In the section of the essay which begins with “Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them…”; David Thoreau has a valid point in the need to make changes through persuasion, if at all possible, and it not, by force. Some people may think of using force to change laws as rebellious and unpatriotic, but if the laws are unjust to begin with, may it be of the people’s interest to do something about it? Thoreau put emphasis on citizen participation in the government- without citizen participation, he paints a picture of tyranny and unguided power within the nation’s government.
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
Throughout all of time, people have needed to live according to their own agendas. Being forced to live a certain way has only caused trouble. That is why Henry David Thoreau supported civil disobedience to help people live according to their own beliefs. In the essay “On Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, the author defined and explained the effect of civil disobedience. Thoreau defined it as, civil disobedience is any peaceful action that demonstrates the disagreement of a person or persons with their government.
Civil Disobedience Thousands of dedicated people march the streets of a huge city, chanting repetitively about needing a change. They proudly hold vibrant signs and banners as they fight for what they believe in. Expressions of determination and hope are visibly spread across their faces. These people aren’t using weapons or violence to fight for their ideas; simply, they are using civil disobedience.
Recently in Hong Kong, young protesters have taken civil disobedience to a whole new level. The pro- democracy protesters have been spotted picking up garbage, washing off graffiti, singing, and doing homework. The protesters are using this extreme civil disobedience to show citizens and government officials they are looking to improve Hong Kong, not destroy it. Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, and Henry David Thoreau also strongly believed in the effectiveness of civil disobedience to encourage change. In their writings, “from Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” by Martin Luther King, Jr, “On Civil Disobedience,” by Mohandas K. Gandhi and “from Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, they discuss their views on civil disobedience.
Civil disobedience has been an enormous event throughout American history, but is currently increasing in our daily lives. I believe that protesting against the laws in a peaceful manner is an appropriate and a brilliant idea to get your opinions across to the American people. If certain causes or people are violent about their opinions, nobody would want to follow them because of the ignorance involved. When I see violence in a protest, I instantly disagree with their fight due to the forcefulness and viciousness of their cause. We need to conduct ourselves in a professional manner when expressing what we believe in, if you do not, people will not take you seriously.
This instance of disobedience on a large scale shows how its actions can lead to the better quality and fairness of life for a population/society. Another example where disobedience acts as a check on society is in the fairness of opportunity for women compared to men. In history, women have had less pay, less opportunity, and less authority in decision. Through advocating, protesting, and acting for change in the gaps between wages and opportunities in life (jobs, sport, etc.), a change between men and women has occurred. These protests have even created the opportunity for women to vote and have a say in what happens politically because of disobedience.
Resisting authority and the act of civil disobedience has been on display in a number of both low- and high-profile occasions in this country’s history. With his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” Henry David Thoreau would go on to inspire an entire generation to take a stand and to fight injustice and corruption whenever spotted. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela were all some of the high-profile examples of civil disobedience, but the act of resisting authority and combating social injustice did end in the last century. If anything, it is stronger now than ever before. Since the dawn of this sweeping epidemic of police brutality, people have taken it upon themselves to seek action, to protest and to seek peace from
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