Pros And Cons Of Civil Disobedience

Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote, 'Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.' The fathers of our country fought and successfully broke apart the chains of England's rule. Yet, time and time again “We the people” unknowingly put ourselves back in them. Thus, it becomes the duty of every American to work tirelessly until the chains are broken apart once more. Every so often, we are granted a changemaker behind whom we can mobilize. Throughout history, great leaders have approached the breaking apart of the government's chains in many different ways, but they can most often be classified under two categories, those who advocate for civil disobedience and those who support violent protests. The latter, is nothing more than a flawed contradiction.
Civil disobedience, or satyagraha, is the reason the 1.2 billion citizens of India are able to stand outside the Red Fort knowing they are free from Britain’s rule. Old or young, no one in India will forget August 15th, the day Prime Minister Nehru raised the green, white and orange symbol of India’s independence above the Lahori Gate. Civil disobedience is one of the most important reasons why the Berlin Wall no longer divides France. It’s why South Africa no longer has apartheid. All modern day and historical examples of peaceful unrest have one thing in common: a fight for equality. That is precisely why peaceful resistance, while beneficial in the more general sense, has no effect (either positive or negative) on a so called “free
The basis of this protest was to fight against inequality. It was to fight against the gender pay gap. It was to fight the voter suppression that disproportionately affects African Americans and women. It was an opportunity for all people in America to stand up, and as New Wave Feminists president La Rosa claims, to “send a bold message … that women’s rights are human rights”. Similarly, the Black Lives Matter movement advocates for “freedom and justice for all Black lives”. The movement centers on fighting for equality for “those that have been marginalized”. Even protests regarding climate change follow this same phenomenon. Dastagir from USA Today explains, “the marchers were led by indigenous groups from around the world… these indigenous people are often the first victims of climate change.” Climate change continues to create inequality. The commonality between every example of peaceful resistance not only in America, but also in the world is that they all happen because of injustice and inequality. Insofar as a “free society” is a society where every citizen is equally recognized and presented with fair justice (Tyler), a free society essentially eliminates the need for peaceful resistance in the first place. Thus, there is no measurable impact peaceful resistance can have. In fact, it seems plausible that in a free society, civil disobedience