...Civil disobedience is not always persuaded by the wrong group of people. Yet, they are the ones who get punished for the actions of trying to make the world a better place while the bad ones don’t get punished. In the article “The Problem is Civil Disobedience” By Howard Zinn, the author explains all the reasons on why civil disobedience is the problem. The allusion of the title meaning is that the problem is civil disobedience not with the people that are disobedient. The meaning to the reference is that not all people that are disobedient are bad and to punish them for something they believe in is wrong. Especially, when the ones who are obedient can be the ones who are really harming the world and not being punished for it. In the article...
Words: 408 - Pages: 2
...When it comes to the pretention of Civil Disobedience and what can be seen as acts of indirect and direct civil disobedience. H.A. Bedau and Henry David Thoreau come to mind because of how they both saw things in different light but at a meaningful level they both thought the same about the government even through they expressed there ideals in completely different ways. Their ideas cross on many different paths as to which even Bedau talks about Thoreau in his essay in regards to being “responsible” for your actions. The main premise of Bedau’s argument in his essay of “civil disobedience and personal responsibility for justice” is to compare the idea of what is civil disobedience and who is responsible for the actions. Bedau spends a great...
Words: 1883 - Pages: 8
...Civil disobedience is the act of refusing to obey the law; it is rebelling against the government. This is a highly sensitive subject when it comes to questioning whether it is justified or not. When the government legalizes a law that is too harsh or goes against religion, it stirs a protest among many. In addition, the act of rebellion wouldn’t be commendable if the act strengthens justice or remains passive-aggressive. A number of times, people believe it is never justifiable under the circumstances that it is normally dangerous and may cause other problems. However, Civil Disobedience is justified only when the law is threatening, the act is passive aggressive, and it strengthens justice. "Unjust Laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?" (Thoreau). At what point does the law no longer become what the people need? When the law itself causes more harm then obedience. Also, when it contradicts religion and moral standards."What we've learned is that our government is doing things worldwide that definitely directly affect our privacy as Americans but affect the privacy of other people globally as well" ("Why One Expert"). It is not a rare occurrence that we see unjust actions....
Words: 778 - Pages: 4
...cannot be resisted,” (“The History of a Crime”); while taking up arms can eventually become the only solution to a dire situation, many times all that is required to capture the heart of a nation is an invasion of ideas. Throughout history, many men and women have decided to fight the injustice of governments with armies of ideas and principles. Rather than resort to violence, they chose the path of civil disobedience. Peacefully, they protested against unfair, discriminatory, and prejudiced regulations; many purposefully broke laws, fully accepting the consequences. This civil disobedience is not only absolutely necessary in a free society, but the actions of people like our founding fathers, various equal rights activists, and modern fair wage protesters have benefited culture in countless ways. In 1772, John Adams said, “Liberty, under every conceivable form of government, is always in danger…the only maxim of a free government ought to be to...
Words: 799 - Pages: 4
...Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience” in 1849 in response to issues that resulted from, what he saw as, an unjust government. Civil disobedience is a peaceful form of protest to achieve changes in political policies. James K. Polk was president at the time. He initiated war on Mexico and supported slavery. Issues that caused Thoreau to want a change in government, among others, were the Mexican-American war and the topic of slavery. Throughout his essay, Thoreau pokes holes in the system of democracy and states how a lack of conviction in one’s conscience can lead to an unjust and intrusive government. Thoreau does not want an absence of government, but a revised, less involved one. Civil Disobedience provides thought provoking ideas and the basis for how to achieve political reform in a passive, but effective, mechanism. Thoreau takes a laissez-faire view on the...
Words: 735 - Pages: 3
...King, what is wrong with segregation? “..segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, but morally wrong and sinful…” Segregation shouldn’t be happening in any part of life. What is wrong with it is what the word means. To be separated and by unjust means at that. 2. What is the difference between “civil disobedience” and criminal activity? If you risk your arrest, that is civil disobedience. If you risk the life, limbs, property, safety of others, you have become a criminal and lost your ethics, and it is no longer civil disobedience. 3. Why does he like being viewed as an “extremist” He likes being viewed as an extremist because others before him have been one as well and it brought change and new ideas to the country. 4. What is “nonviolence” and what did King hope to achieve through this strategy? Nonviolence is not for the cowardly, the weak, the passive, the uninterested or the fearful. "Nonviolent resistance does resist," he wrote. "It is not a method of stagnant passivity. While the nonviolent resister is unreceptive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, his mind and emotions are always on the go, constantly seeking to persuade his opponent that he is wrong. The technique is passive physically, but strongly active spiritually. It is not passive non-resistance to evil; it is active nonviolent resistance to evil. Malcom X Advice to the Youth of Mississippi 1. Why does Malcolm X...
Words: 660 - Pages: 3
..."You must never be fearful of what you are doing when it is right." Spoken elegantly in the words of a leading historical figure in Civil Disobedience, Rosa Parks perfectly captures the meaning, integrity, and even necessity of nonviolent rebellion in situations of legal and social injustice. It is not only the right, but the moral duty of the people in a free society to stand up to the law if it violates the God-given rights of its people. If the citizens of a free society are never to protest legislation that oppresses them, how can such a society even be considered free? People of a free society have the ability and the obligation to stand up for their beliefs through nonviolent means. It is an obligation because we are conscious beings...
Words: 800 - Pages: 4
...Civil disobedience is the act of refusal against laws, taxes, or demands by a government usually staying peaceful in nature. Martin Luther King Jr. and Antigone implement civil disobedience to defy unjust law; however, both approaches used to go against the wrong laws are different. Martin Luther King Jr. became the leader for the civil rights movement to put an end to segregation through civil disobedience by stressing the importance of peacefully protesting; while Antigone purposely went against the law, knowing the consequences, to follow God’s law instead of man-made law in a holy effort to bury her late brother Polyneices. Martin Luther King Jr. goes against unjust laws through civil disobedience by initiating peaceful protests. He believed that using nonviolent tactics are better at showing the immorality the unjust laws’ and calls for black people to fight the long battle against segregation. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he reveals the unjust treatment going on in Birmingham and why it is important for him to be there helping, “Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already...
Words: 1102 - Pages: 5
...30 April 2013 Civil Disobedience When should civil disobedience be justified? Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey government laws, in an effort to bring upon a change in governmental policy or legislation. Civil disobedience is not an effort to dissolve the American government, because without government our society would result in chaos. Sometimes, when there is an unjust law and the government won't take the initiative to fix it, the public must act as civil disobedient to bring awareness and fix the unjust law. There have been times when citizens have felt the need to revolt against the government because of an issue that is unjust. There were such cases during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau made such actions to prove their point. Civil disobedience is justified when its goal is to obtain equal rights and service for everyone, without causing physical damage to people and their property, and without breaking the just laws that are already enforced. It should only be practiced when the government fails to uphold justice and fix laws that don't allow everyone the equal rights already given to some. In his essay, "Civil Disobedience" Thoreau wrote in 1849 after spending a night in the Walden town jail for refusing to pay a poll tax that supported the Mexican War. He recommended passive resistance as a form of tension that could lead to reform of unjust laws practiced by the government. He voiced civil disobedience as "An expression...
Words: 1384 - Pages: 6
...I believe that peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society. It allows conscience and morals to govern a free society and allows for a country to positively evolve. The founding fathers created the United States through a revolution, standing against the injustice of the British towards them. The birth of our nation serves as an example of why peaceful resistance is important maintaining an effective and moral government. Civil disobedience allows conscience and morals to govern a free society, not the ideals of the majority. As Thoreau stated in his essay, Civil Disobedience, “a majority are permitted…to rule…not because they are most likely to be right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are...
Words: 689 - Pages: 3
...Civil Disobedience is a tradition carried on by those willing to accept the consequences. Muhammad Ali is one example, he firmly stood up and opposed joining the military draft. That soon caused him to be stripped of his boxing title and was sentenced to five years in prison, but was appealed and avoided his prison sentence. Another example is Henry David Thoreau, who spent a night in jail for not paying his taxes, in protest of the Mexican American War. The influence of Henry Thoreau's writing has been read by civil rights leaders in the United States and around the world over the years. He believes when the government is doing wrong that the people should refuse to follow the law, like he did due to the practice of slavery in some territories. And the only purpose of the government was to ensure individual freedom and not misuse...
Words: 501 - Pages: 3
...Civil disobedience is an active refusal to obey certain laws, commands, and demands of a government in a nonviolent way, in hopes to influence the government to change the rules and regulations they had put in place for a single group of people. Henry David Thoreau wrote a book titled "Civil Disobedience"; he wrote this book to protest slavery in the United States and the Mexican-American War. (Why Did Thoreau) He rebelled by not paying taxes because when he paid taxes the funds were going to both events he did not support at all. He stayed true to his morals so much so he was even put in jail for a night. The acts of Thoreau showed the Americans that if nobody spoke up, they could be stuck in the same unjust that they were used to living...
Words: 983 - Pages: 4
...In “On Civil Disobedience and Non-Violence,” he says that people should disobey the wrong laws and wrong government. He appeals everyone to stand up for rights and justice by doing “simple, quiet, truthful carrying on of what you consider good and needful.” The simple, quiet and patient action which Budrus inhabitants considered right is just to stand on the land for building Separation barrier “until we made sure there would be no construction work” (Dalby). They did not use any arms or violence to prevent Israeli soldiers from building the barrier. Moreover, this action exemplifies Tolstoy’s ideas because it does not involve in the Palestinian government. At that time, “while the Palestinian elite attend talks and readily accept painful concessions on settlements" (Cheslow), Budrus resisted Israel...
Words: 1210 - Pages: 5
...Throughout “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, King makes a similar statement about civil disobedience and the law. He states that civil disobedience must occur after four steps are taken. Collection of facts to determine whether there are injustices, negotiation, self purification, and direct action must occur before civil disobedience transpires. He argues that “there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes an injustice when it is used to maintain segregation” (5). Ultimately, a law becomes unjust when it promotes injustice. This is when civil disobedience can occur as laws that promote segregation and inequality are unjust. King appeals to a higher law whenever a command of the state conflicts with his moral principles. Natural law can be described as King’s guide to civil disobedience. When the state does not conform with natural law, civil...
Words: 1609 - Pages: 7
...- 2 – The LD File Civil Disobedience Index Topic Overview 3-7 Definitions 8-10 Affirmative Cases 11-19 Negative Cases 20-25 Affirmative Extensions 26-34 Civil disobedience worked to free India. 26 Civil disobedience overthrew the communists in Poland. 26 The tradition of civil disobedience in America goes all the way back to the founders. 26 Civil disobedience can serve to prevent situations from escalating into violence. 27 Civil Disobedience has been used to promote peace. 27 Civil disobedience was used to promote racial equality. 27 Civil disobedience is used to try to prevent the destruction of the environment. 27 Civil disobedience is effective at changing the law. 28 Legal channels can take too long. 28 Consent to obey just laws does not imply consent to obey unjust ones. 28 Distinguishing between just and unjust laws to disobey can be universalized. 28 Civil disobedience can be stabilizing to a community by spreading a shared sense of justice. 29 Sometimes it is only the unjustified response to civil disobedience that has harmful consequence. 29 Civil disobedience is traditionally non-violent. 29 Civil disobedience is a form of exercising free speech- which is essential in a democracy. 30 Civil disobedience has been used to fight slave laws 30 Civil disobedience played a role in ending the Vietnam war. 30 Civil disobedience shouldn’t be punished-...
Words: 18413 - Pages: 74
