Right To Dissent

The Right to Dissent There is a thin line between a nation ruled by a few powerful people and anachronism; this is a place where a lone individual can have a voice and right to public non-violent protest in to advocate for his private conviction to be implemented in society. This is one US right on which is the most crucial to the continuation of fairness in our government, as without it only elected politicians, the wealthy, and the majority view would have a voice. The reality of politics is that is not really those who vote in elections for the preferable candidate, except for the most local elections where the candidates real characters can be directly known, nor is the minority of politicians with integrity and honesty, which keep the
democracy alive. This is because 1)Voters are more likely to inadvertently vote for a candidate that does not truly represent their values because politicians commonly alter their views to align with financial supporters of their campaign and try to appeal to the widest range of voters meaning dishonest politicians commonly win an election, and 2)because of the first point, there are a majority of corrupt politicians who go with the wind, and a minority of principled ones in the legislative, judicial and administrative areas. It is true that the continuation of the full range of liberty and justice in a country depends on individuals who have everyday private lives, deciding to work to change something, and voicing their ideas of the best way to run the country. They then join together with similarly-minded people to make much-needed change. They tell their circle of society, they seek publicity in the news and media, they talk to their representatives, and also use the most direct manner, protest in public with signs and speeches.
This tradition brings to mind the long precedence of peaceful resistance in the US and Britain: the boycott of taxed imported goods such as tea and stamps by the colonists, the boycotts on cane sugar and various other goods in England during the 1830s as part of the protest of the slave-based economy lead by the prominent figure of William Wilberforce, the peaceful abolitionist movements supported by the Quakers during the 1850s. More modern protest examples are the protest of the Oil Pipeline in North Dakota, protests in Washington against the secret Pacific Trade Agreement and university protests such as Black Lives Matter. This circumstance is a tragedy in a deep sense because it says that we cannot live our lives quietly trusting members of the government are working for our good and not worrying about negative effects to us. It is strangely also possessive of elegance in that you do not depend on any sort of middleman or politician to serve you, but can exactly attempt to express your idea, and be able to sway other to see the merit of your
position. Part of what makes it so great, is that it actually works as a result of the corrupt system, as the self-serving politicians will be most motivated to shift allegiances and opinions to keep up their public image in the news, because of fear that it will cost them their future elections.
There is also the case of legacy in which the protest receives publicity and years later after the idea has gained familiarity and widespread cultural acceptance, their contrary actions could stick them on the wrong side of history. I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who understood deeply the vitalness of the right to dissent, as the declaration of independence which his political views were the inspiration, proclaims that, government’s purpose is to protect the key rights and “whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government”. As he phrased it in one of his letters to a friend about the discussing political dynamics, “The tree of liberty must be replenished from time to time with the blood of martyrs.” I think that this concept is so powerful, in that, it perfectly illustrates the truth of the twins concepts of the impermanence of accountable government, and secondly of the lack of ability for total internal peace of a country, and liberty to
coexist. Good government is always prone to deterioration and there must always individuals to make irretrievable sacrifice to maintain the presence of liberties. The views of Jefferson were that not only does an individual has a right to protest, but they have a duty to do so, as a responsibility to future generations. Peaceful protests of some kind, is a good example of practical reality coupled with political ideals because it recognizes that the success of liberty will not be possible without the