Pros And Cons Of Civil Disobedience

Stand Up Human progress has been marked by progress when groups of people that are perceived to be powerless rise up against a superior entity. Whether it was the Boston Tea Party against the policy of “taxation without representation”, leading to the oldest democracy or Gandhi’s defiant march to the sea in protest of the British monopoly on salt, resulting in the largest democracy in the world, it has been witnessed that peaceful resistance to laws is an effective method of gaining freedom, independence, and equality. Although civil disobedience is effective, it only is so if it is peaceful and dissidents should be careful not to be blinded by their passions and harm anybody neither directly nor indirectly. One of the most publicized authors
Thoreau contends that people's first obligation is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law dictated by the majority. Writing in the 1840s, the nation was engulfed in several issues, especially the Mexican American War and the conflict of slavery, and Thoreau viewed the United States Government as being unjust and unethical. Rather than voting or petitioning for change like many citizens, Thoreau did not pay taxes, believing the aforementioned methods of rebellion did little to help the cause. Instead, Thoreau stated a person is obliged to not participate in evils such as being a member of an unjust institution and thereby, severed any ties with it and ultimately had to spend a night in jail for his actions. Fast forward a little over a century and one will see the heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali choose to avoid the draft. Just like Thoreau, Ali was engulfed in another controversial national issue: the Vietnam War. Ali’s beliefs, similar to millions at the time, were founded on the principle of non-aggression. Ali chose to avoid the draft, and was incarcerated for several years, jeopardizing his career as a
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. claims that it is the right and responsibility to break unjust laws, King goes on to define unjust laws as those that “degrade human personality”, while just laws as “Any law that uplifts human personality”. He also attacks white moderates who favor “order” over “justice”. However, King had some opposition such as Morris I. Leibman, who stated“civil disobedience...is incompatible with the concept of the American legal sys­tem [and] [o]ur law has not only been a guardian of freedom, but the affirmative agent for freedom.”. However, Leibman seemed disconnected with his current day situation where millions were segregated, thus treated unequally and thereby were not free but rather captive to institutionalized racism. Although segregation was not a significant problem in Chicago compared to the South, it still existed domestically. Ultimately, King was successful in his letter as it not only gave him a platform to voice his policy on civil disobedience, but also garnered further awareness through those like Leibman who responded to his