Why Is Disobedience Important To Social Change

Disobedience plays an important role in bringing much needed change to society. Famous leaders such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. utilized this strategy to peacefully protest injustice. Disobedience is man's original virtue in that is acts as a powerful tool against the social and political ills of the nation. Though I concede that disobedience can lead to negative change, I still insist that disobedience is crucial to social progress because it gives the voiceless a voice and overthrows tyrannical rule. Disobedience accelerates social change in that it sheds light on unjust rules. In Pakistan, the Taliban's strict laws forbidding girls to be educated inspired Malala Yousafzai to speak out against the cruel injustice. Malala defied the Taliban, attended school, and wrote a blog dedicated to unveiling the Taliban's wrongdoing. Her outright rejection of the law led to worldwide attention and incited a revolution for gender equality. Malala's actions increased awareness of the social problems plaguing the Middle East. This act of disobedience not only drew attention to the
Taliban's actions, but also promoted girl's education worldwide. Malala stood against the law she felt was unfair, which sparked a rebellion. Acts of disobedience are necessary for society to continually change in order to fit the needs of the people. Disobedience is a valuable human trait; making strong statements in peaceful ways accelerates social change. The world as we know it today was shaped by numerous acts of disobedience. Peaceful resistance to laws provides an outlet for people to express their feelings on certain laws. Without civil disobedience, society would be stagnant and destructive. Admittedly, not all acts of disobedience brings positive attention and change.
Many movements fail because of the growing violence involved. The Black Lives Matter movement protests against the seemingly built-in societal prejudice blacks face. While their cause is honorable, their movement has been tainted by excessive violence. Disobedience is not effective when innocent bystanders are consistently harmed. The violence associated with Black Lives Matter has hindered the movement's ability to bring positive societal change. Inciting unnecessary violence, such as provoking policemen, has made the movement too radical to bring about positive reform. Disobedience is effective in shedding light on controversial topics, however, not all change is positive. But more evidence supports the argument that disobedience provides an peaceful method for the voiceless to protest
injustice. In Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, he stresses the citizen's duty to be free of association with injustice. Thoreau explains that people who stand by and live under an unjust institution are participating in evil. Against the institution of slavery and the pro-expansionist motives behind the Mexican war, Thoreau refused to pay his taxes to what he believed was a corrupt government. Thoreau refers to the government as a machine that needs a force of "counter-friction" to balance the system. He charges the audience to risk punishment in order for change to occur. The philosopher argues the participation in an unjust law makes humans responsible for the plight of other humans. Thus, it is the citizen's duty to protect the integrity of the government by protesting against unjust laws and accepting the consequence. Another example of how civil disobedience brings about positive change in society is Edward Snowden's heroic actions against the NSA's surveillance programs. Snowden leaked relatively harmless NSA information to increase the public's awareness of government interference. By drawing attention to the U.S. government's actions of obtaining personal data, Snowden confirmed the public's suspicions of the NSA's unconstitutional activity. Since domestic spying is a serious concern for citizens, Snowden recognized the need to take action by releasing NSA documents, none of which included threatening information. Snowden's disobedience and willingness to accept the consequences reveals his good-natured concern for Americans' privacy. In order to protect our constitutional liberties, civil disobedience is necessary to drive positive change in this rapidly-changing world.