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All throughout history we have witnessed those exceptional beings whom have taken steps to better our society despite risking their lives and putting the lives of their family members at risk. Peaceful resistance and civil disobedience, as weak as it may sound can just be as powerful as the sword itself. Notably, we are fortunate enough to have had so many notable precedents where acts of peaceful resistance have successfully impacted society and made a mark in history. These remarkable figures have shown that acts of peaceful resistance can be just as significant and positively impacts a free society. Speaking in terms of today’s society, opposing laws that one believes to be unjust seems to be more effective because our citizens are aware
“Unjust laws exist: Shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them” (Thoreau 945, par.16). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had written about resisting an unjust government in his piece, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In his essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau also discusses the right and responsibility to resist an unjust government. Since King and Thoreau both use current events in their time as examples of injustice, use historical and biblical references, how they can’t wait any longer to make a change, both provide strong arguments on how important it is to stand up against the injustice put upon American people by the government; however, King and Thoreau were inspired to write by different causes
"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.
Civil disobedience is a non-violent act of protest or resistance against unjust actions from the government. This form of collective action is based on the belief that individuals have the right and duty to challenge the authority if it acts against the interest of the people. In recognition of this, prominent figures of the Civil Rights movement often discussed civil disobedience; eventually debating on the justification of violent disobedience. In this essay, I will examine the arguments presented by Martin Luther King Jr. in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Malcolm X in “The Ballot or Bullet” to recognize the various usage of civil disobedience; ultimately, evaluating the moral justifiability of using violence as a means of promoting
Civil disobedience is the refusal of something in a friendly manner. Politically, America is in a rough situation. America as a whole is slowly separating as a nation. For instance, African-Americans believe they are experiencing prejudice from “white” people. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana there a revolt organized by the infamous “Black Lives Matter” organization.
“That government is best which governs least”(Thoreu). Times of struggle, times of big government, and times of disagreement often lead to religious, political, and social revolutions. Thus, bringing debate, conflict, and ultimately resolutions. Civil Disobedience can often be portrayed as criminalistic or sometimes judgement falls upon those who participate. Henry Thoreau stated “I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government.”
Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience took the first thought of introspective philosophy and place it without hesitation. His common demonstrations of disobedience were progressive as he supported a type of dissent that did not fuse roughness or apprehension. Thoreau's starting activities including the dissent of numerous administrative issues, including servitude, landed him in prison as he declined to pay charges or to flee. Unexpectedly, more than one hundred years after the fact, the same issue of equivalent rights was shredding the United States. Yet African Americans, similar to
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
The question of whether or not peaceful resistance toward the law impacts society in a positive way is really a question of circumstance. If I were to refer back to the historical aspects of the subject, then my immediate answer would be yes, it does; peaceful resistance has often prevailed in situations that required immediate attention, yet were simply overlooked by the general public, despite their importance. One extremely important example of this would be the many boycotts during the civil rights movements of the 60's. Civil disobedience was a way to communicate the true inequality represented by the phrase, ''separate but equal'' by peacefully marching for their beliefs. For example, many white officials used various schemes to prevent
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
No person wants to tread the difficult trail when it would be much easier to follow the herd along the easy route of following laws. Yet, those who still hold passion for moral truths disobey the law when unjust, and this is a true testament to the power of American perseverance. Most recently, the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline have brought more attention to the pipeline. This is another strong effect of civil disobedience. Even when no legal change is brought about immediately, attention to the cause still promotes change for the future.
Civil disobedience is the deliberate action against an unjust law to invoke a positive change in government and society. Civilians have the right to refute these types of unjust laws to eliminate inequality and government’s unjust nature by following conscience before laws for moral guidance. As demonstrated in Antigone, this is depicted by the daughter of Oedipus, who disobeys Creon’s law for the greater good because of the laws unjust nature. In Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, a naturalist, promotes this concept as well through his philosophical standpoint of the flaws of the government. Lastly, in Dr. King’s letter he qualifies the idea of civilians disobeying their government through non violent campaigns to stand up against
The primary goal of most members of Congress would most likely to be re- elected. Most members of the Congress have an advantage because they are able to raise more money and mount a stronger campaign, while having better name recognition and good reputation during their term in office. This may be bad for the democratic government, since Congress wouldn’t really prioritize the citizens. As Congress is the legislative, lawmaking, branch of the United States national government it shares power with the president and the Supreme Court. Being the members of the Congress has the responsibility of making laws for the people, levy taxes, authorize the borrowing of money, declare war, and regulate commerce.
“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
