Henry David Thoreau On Civil Disobedience

Have you ever found a law that was set in place by the government to be unjust? Civil disobedience is the “active, public, conscientious breach of the law to bring about change in law or public policy” (thekingcenter.org). Henry David Thoreau, an American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher coined the term civil disobedience in 1848. Under the terms of civil disobedience, if a citizen felt that a law was unjust or did not go along with their beliefs then they were “given permission” to disobey the law. There is much controversy that comes with civil disobedience because what might look like an oppressive government to some can be the legally elected one and in that case, civil disobedience is seen as an act of Treason. Civil disobedience

He was not against all government; all Thoreau wanted and hoped for was his personal freedom without government and bureaucracy overstepping its boundaries. Some readers might view him as a sort of libertarian. He stood for protected individual rights for both individuals and government interference. But he also understood that without any government the country would be in complete and utter chaos, and he did not support that idea. Thoreau wanted the minimal government interference that was needed to keep a society efficient and calm. This view if put forth today especially in the workforce, people should be in an environment where they manage and take responsibility for themselves, but still have rules that management put in place, that are expected to be abided by on a daily

In April of 2016 the US Capitol Police loaded nearly four hundred handcuffed protestors into busses sitting outside congress. April eleventh was the opening day of “Democracy Spring” which, “aimed at eliminating the impact of big money on politics and lower barriers to voting” (Zornick, 2016). With this being one of the largest acts of civil disobedience to occur inside Washington it surprisingly attracted very little media attention. The lead organizer of the protest Kai Newkirk said that he was in awe watching everyone come together and get arrested so that our country and every citizen could have an equal voice. Newkirk said, “it was a great start, it was a spark, and now we’re trying to build on it” (Newkirk, 2016). This protest was one of many planned in Washington to demonstrate civil disobedience. Various themes such as labor, environmental justice, racial justice, and youth activism were a few of the other themes the group planned on protesting. Many of the activists participating in the civil disobedience protest were first timers. They said that all they were requesting were public funded elections. When detained they were taken to a garage type of facility in southeast Washington and some of the protestors weren’t happy. There has not been a response from congress on the matter at hand. The commentary and analysis that followed the civil disobedience case in Washington