Ahmed Syed Professor Ravy Eng 112-536 04/27/2010 Civil Disobedience in an Unjust America According to the infamous essay by Henry David Thoreau‚ civil disobedience is the conscious and intentional disobeying of a law to advance a moral principle or change government policy. Throughout the essay‚ Thoreau urges the need for individuals to put their personal and social consciousness before their allegiance to their government and its range of policies. Thoreau believed that if a government is unjust
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Civil Disobedience in America There are many traps one can fall into when beginning an essay on civil disobedience. From the quoting of Thoreau‚ “There will never be a really free and enlightened state until the state comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power‚ from which all its own power and authority are derived‚” to the Merriam Webster dictionary definition‚ “the refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means
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The decision that civil disobedience is a necessary action is not one often made impetuously‚ as said by Mahatma Gandhi‚ “ it implies discipline‚ thought‚ care‚ attention and sacrifice”. For one to imply that civil disobedience is no more than an act of unlawful defiance against one’s government is a half-baked analysis and requires a more utilitarian way of thinking; simply put‚ peaceful resistance to law— in most cases‚ positively affects a free society. Civil disobedience
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Rawls argues that violence‚ when practicing civil disobedience‚ cannot be justified; however‚ violence is a part of civil disobedience; its qualities as both a practice and is justification hold true the goal of civil disobedience- a call for change in the laws or practices. Civil disobedience is an act in violation of a law‚ which is undertaken for moral reasons. Rawls’ view of civil disobedience is that it cannot be violent because of its nature. This practice does in fact have the abilities to
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Henry David Thoreau was looking to make such an impact by publicizing his transcendentalist beliefs and going a step further with his concept of civil disobedience. Lewis H. Van Dusen ’s essay entitled Civil Disobedience: Destroyer of Democracy was published in 1969 and opposes greatly the beliefs of Thoreau. Van Dusen essentially deems civil disobedience as the assumption that you can be above the law should it not tailor to your beliefs. Van Dusen explicitly refutes the concepts of Thoreau suggesting
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Civil Disobedience‚ the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines‚ as a peaceful form of political protest. It has been used all over the world for many years so that people or groups can cross points so that they can make a change. However some people believe that it is ineffective because people can get hurt or killed‚ or that it is ineffective. However I hold a different opinion‚ and I believe that civil disobedience is an effective to protest and make a change. For example
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Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience”‚ in 1849‚ to explain his distrust for the government. He focuses greatly on how the government is actively working against the people. Thoreau also discusses all throughout his essay about how the ones who serve our country are not considered as important as the ones within the cabinet. In an excerpt from “Civil Disobedience”‚ Thoreau uses pathos to show how the government is corrupt by using strategic syntax‚ similes‚ and metaphors. In “Civil Disobedience”‚ Thoreau
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Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience espouses the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the dictates of laws. It criticizes American social institutions and policies. He contends that people’s first obligation is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law dictated by the majority. When a government is unjust‚ people should refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from the government in general. A person is not obligated to devote his or her life to eliminating evils from the world
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Civil disobedience is a key part of the rights that all Americans now have. Civil disobedience allows for the people to take a stand against rules and regulations that they do not agree with. From movements such as ending slavery‚ women voting‚ and racial equality‚ civil disobedience was a major factor in getting the attention of those who had the position to make a change. Rosa Parks wouldn’t give up her seat on a bus‚ which brought national attention to rising concerns of racial equality in
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resistance and civil disobedience to laws. Negative resistance can cause some problems for society. On the other hand civil disobedience can do some good for society. Civil disobedience can help obtain and preserve a free society. There are many cases of civil disobedience in the past as well as today. Civil disobedience is the act of refusing some laws or governmental demands by the use of nonviolent techniques such as boycotting and picketing (Dictionary.com). Civil disobedience is an unwavering
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