All American citizens give up some of their personal liberties for the good of society: it is the basis of the constitution and every law. When citizens feel a law is unjust, they have two options: follow it or fight it. While the usual method of fighting it involves legal challenges or petitioning legislators, civil disobedience has achieved much notoriety after its famed success during the Civil Rights movement. The Framework for a Free Society describes a free society as one in which government “is constrained by the rule of law under which every individual and entity is treated equally.” A free society stresses toleration and respect of differences in belief and culture. Thus, peaceful resistance positively impacts a free society as it…
James A. Baldwin, an American novelist and social critic, stated that, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” The right to stand against our country and protest against what’s wrong makes us powerful diverse people. We, the American people, are in charge of our country and we must make her forever progressive and right. Part of this forward motion is civil disobedience. Civil disobedience was used to create our nation, exercise our civilian powers, and is still used today to eradicate benighted ideas and laws.…
In 1891 the author Oscar Wilde claimed, disobedience is a valuable human trait and promotes social progress. 125 years later, and Wilde’s statement still holds true. Experts have defined social progress as, increasing the ability of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens. Looking to the past to different historical examples, the idea that disobedience promotes social progress becomes self-evident. It is shown that in most situations if someone wishes to change his/her current situation for the betterment of him/herself and or his/her community, disobedience in some way, shape, or form must be used.…
Disobedience is a very controversial topic due to the fact that history represents such a wide range of extremities of this ideology. Disobedience can be perceived in many different ways and it can either help or destroy the structure of society. An example of disobedience in society that has proved very successful in the past is civil disobedience. Throughout history, civil disobedience has made a huge impact on the U.S. government and is responsible for several popular social reforms. Many of the world’s most inspirational leaders used civil disobedience to reconstruct society and develop remarkable social change. Examples of these leaders include Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and Rosa Parks. These people were able to…
Disobedience is a valuable human trait and it promotes social progress. The beginning of time starts with disobedience. Humans tend to attract to trouble like a moth to a flame. When someone is born they start off disobedient. Humans have to be taught how to behave. It is to be imbedded into our brains to make the right decisions.…
Peaceful resistance, historically referred to as “civil disobedience”, is a long-standing American tradition practiced throughout history in times of public turmoil and political fracas. From the opening stages of the United States, to the tergiversate of the civil right movement, civil disobedience continues to take its place in the moral actions of the American people. The right to defend one's unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is an ideal that was both important to the Founding Fathers, and to Americans today. Influential leaders of the world such as John Dickinson, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., along with many others, promoted and demonstrated the benefits and positive affects of peaceful protesting to achieve their goals, as well as establish a legacy and a path for revolution. Likewise, a peaceful…
Peaceful resistance to rules and regulations among society goes down historically as something so inevitably iconic as an occurrence known as civil disobedience. It is no doubt that civil disobedience, the act of opposing a law deemed unjust and peacefully disobeying it henceforth, spurs such great controversy in our society. Civil disobedience impacts society in a positive manner that does not hinder nor deteriorate the good name of the just nation that is home, but moreover poses as an influence for what is better accepted by humans as lawful.…
It becomes a kind of despotism where we seek to silence rather than engage.” Civil disobedience is a necessary part of free society, as it provides an avenue from which all people can make themselves heard, regardless of political power or economic status. Furthermore, it is necessary to keep the spirit of the first amendment alive, as peaceful protest is a way in which people exercise their right to free speech; without peaceful resistance to laws, little progress would be made in a free society, and the views of the majority would be imposed on the rest of the population. Acting as a catalyst for change, peaceful resistance one ingredient of the recipe that drives a free nation towards growth and…
Through appreciating the dynamic place peaceful resistance has in world history, society can recognize the potential civil disobedience has as a force for good.…
There is no better example of disobedience leading to progress than America itself. This country was built on revolution, from the worn eighteenth-century bricks pointing the way to Lexington and Concord to antiquated metal signs corroding in the landfill reading ‘Whites only’. To justify a safe and prosperous life, rebellions and protests must occur- until the minority becomes heard over the deafening shout of the majority, there cannot truly be peace. Oscar Wilde’s claim that ‘it is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion’ has never been more accurate than it is today, especially when weighed against a powerful, strife-ridden history. Rebellions, whether unheard or spoken to the masses, make up the…
Civil disobedience is a vital and necessary part of life in a democratic system of government. It serves to keep the government from overstepping its bounds. There are times in the history of countries where the governing body has become complacent and has begun to violate the rights of their citizens. Civil disobedience is an effective way of discouraging and preventing such transgressions. Without the threat of dissidence from the public, there is nothing to keep governments honest except for the honor of those governments, which is highly questionable even in the noblest of nations. The role of elected officials in the United States is to represent their constituents, be they from their district, state, or party. If there is nothing to hold these politicians to this purpose, can we truly be sure they are ruling in a representative way and not in self interest?…
Throughout all of human history, the acts brought on by disobedience have pioneered mankind into greatness. After all, it is through disobedience that one can hope to ever accomplish something truly extraordinary, for it is the act of defying authority that often brings about revolution against the unjust and an altered perspective of reality. Disobedience is an essential facet of society—needed to march progressively into a brighter future.…
The resolution I have been researching for the past month is “Resolved: Civil Disobedience in a Democracy is morally justified.” Although there is no single, agreed upon definition, many definitions are similar. Civil disobedience is usually defined along the lines of refusing to obey certain rules and laws as a form of non-violent protest of an unjust law, or any law that one opposes, and is often done to bring attention to said law. Through my research, I have found a number of arguments for civil disobedience within a democracy, as well as arguments against it.…
A government’s purpose is to regulate a nation. Regardless of the disagreements some may have about the United States government, the fact that humans need a governing body in order to avoid chaos is irrefutable. Still, there are times when members of a society do not agree with the views of their governing body. At times like those, society has been known to occasionally resort to civil disobedience. The act of peacefully opposing what one deems as an unjust law seems to be controversial among society members. Some argue that it is wrong to oppose a law because that would negatively impact society, perhaps by creating distrust between a nation’s government and its society. Others argue that it is the right of Americans to voice their opinions,…
Henry David Thoreau was arrested for his refusal to pay a state tax in support of the Mexican-American War. He was opposed to the war because it was intended to expand the slave states. Thoreau not only engaged in civil disobedience, but in his essay “Civil Disobedience”…