Civil Disobedience : Effective And Non Violent Government

Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws, as a peaceful form of political protest. Many people protest when they want to bring awareness to something that they feel needs attention. Most people used to go about protesting by using picket signs and yelling slogans, which is one effective form, but depending on what they are trying to gain from the situation, it might not be the best method. Civil disobedience has been an issue for decades, there has been confusion on whether it is appropriate or not. Technology is a very important influence in this generation, and it is getting more and more advanced every day. Certain forms of protest and civil disobedience can be more of an extraneous act than beneficial, simply because there is a better way to go about obtaining justice. Protesting and Civil disobedience is how average people speak out, but modern day technology can be a beneficial factor in the results.

It’s difficult to imagine a world where citizens follow laws they agree with and disregard those they are against. However, what if the laws they disregard should never have been laws in the first place? Civil disobedience is a method used to fight injustice in society. In the words of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” If injustice is not confronted, it will continue to seep into every facet of society. This can transform a once free society into one that is trapped under clutches of injustice. Therefore, peaceful resistance, although uncomfortable, positively impacts and preserves a free society.

There are many different authors who believe that civil disobedience is not the way to go, that it does not solve anything. For example, Robert A. Goldwin writes in “The Case against Civil Disobedience” how “civil disobedience … is an altogether secondary and derivative matter…” He goes on about how civil disobedience is a way for people who want to stand up for their rights can without any harsh punishment and if these people are too scared to do anything violent. Though Goldwin makes a good point about the unimportance of civil disobedience, the fact is that civil disobedience

Another issue I have with the idea of civil disobedience is the fundamental understanding of America’s social contract. While Americans do have the right to protest according to the Constitution, the majority of the “peaceful” assemblies are not, well, peaceful (more on this later). On top of that, as US citizens, we conform to our social contract, which restricts certain liberties, but provides us the right to live in the United States instead of more corrupt places in the world -- Mexico, North Korea, and Syria come to mind.

Civil disobedience is an appropriate response to perceived injustice today because it allows the oppressed and silenced a chance to protest unjust laws and unfair governments. Without civil disobedience our country wouldn’t be where it stands today. Back in the late 1700’s, early colonists boycotted and protested what they deemed unjust laws, such as the Stamp Act or Townshend Act. This later led to the American Revolution and the forming of the United States of America.

Civil disobedience, nonviolently breaking a law and accepting its consequences, positively impacts a free society. This truth can be seen clearly through the American movement for racial equality, because the cause was undeniably just. By accelerating legislative change, leveraging social tension, and increasing civic engagement, the ongoing fight for racial equality demonstrates that civil disobedience is a force for good.

Civil Disobedience can positively effect our society. If people blindly follow laws then the government has free reign to take advantage of the people under its jurisdiction. If no one stands up to fight when an individuals or a groups freedom is being taken advantage of then our political system has failed. They have a right, even if they are in a minority, to stand up for themselves and protect their liberties that are protected under the Constitution. "When the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest."

From demolishing slavery to succeeding in African American and women's suffrage, the equality our nation pride's itself on owes much thanks to our right to peaceful demonstrations. Following this recent election I think that civil disobedience will be examined heavily once again as an increasing amount of citizens have begun to participate in recent protests and marches in reaction to the president's actions. Similar to the motivation of key people before us such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, the unfaltering mission stemming from each of these protests or marches is an inexplicable fear of an abuse of power on individual

To put it into different terms, civil disobedience is an avalanche that snowballs more and more support until it is finally succeeds in its goal. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. of the Civil Rights movement progressively gained more support until his following and cause was undeniable and instantly recognizable. This positively impacted his society because he protested peacefully, but also increased his support through his protest. This was because the peaceful nature of King’s protests was marginally more appealing than a violent one. This led to a heightened awareness of the Civil Rights movement which ultimately facilitated its success. In other words, Martin Luther King’s civil disobedience helped his society because it spread awareness about an important injustice, which fueled the success of the movement that eventually bettered society substantially. It is not difficult to see that if a protest did not gather a following, then it would fail to impact society at all, since it could not obtain a foothold in the ladder of society. Thus, the inspirational nature of civil disobedience enables it to positively impact

Civil disobedience has been a prevalent topic of debate within the United States and all around the world for centuries. Civil disobedience, by definition, is a form of peaceful protest where the protesters refuse to abide by a certain law or do not agree with a certain tax. This is an extremely positive aspect of the government for the United States and is essential towards preserving the intents of the framers. The refusal to allow peaceful forms of protest would be silencing the first amendment rights towards freedom of speech and expression. But, while this form of protest is extremely positive and necessary, it is not always effective. There are some cases where the protest goes unnoticed because there are not being extreme actions

Mahatma Gandhi once said, ”Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless of corrupt.” Civil disobedience is the refusal of following certain laws nonviolently for the purpose of a cause. Techniques such as boycotting, picketing, and not paying taxes are examples of civil disobedience. A hotly debated topic in today’s world is whether civil disobedience is effective or not. Even though some may say that civil disobedience is ineffective for many reasons, there are more given reasons for why civil disobedience is effective. I believe civil disobedience is an effective way to change unjust laws and/or make social change because it has the power to cause real change in society, law, and the government, it is a way to

When civil disobedience takes place among a person or group of people, a statement is trying to be made. There is a reason why these people are disobeying specific laws that were meant to protect them. They are trying to give their government a reality check on what is actually happening in their country. When government officials are elected or chosen and have power, they can easily abuse this power and become blinded by the realities that take place within their country. In an interview, Martin Luther King Jr. once said “I don’t think any society can call an individual irresponsible who breaks the law and willingly accepts the penalty” (Martin Luther King Jr. Speech). Dr. King explains how when people break

Civil disobedience is the "refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government" as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary. In my opinion, civil disobedience can both positively and negatively affect society-depending on the circumstances. For example, committing the act of civil disobedience in response to a war can help the government make better decisions based on this domestic feedback. Other forms of civil disobedience, such as disagreeing with the law against stealing, would not be helpful in anyway and would simply anger many people including police officers. The main difference between these two examples is the fact that one law is an understood

Civil disobedience is not follow the rules of government or laws of the city and i agree with not follow the rules that want us to do, why because i think some laws the government make is not fair and mostly taxes are a big problem in the world at this time. Most people have to do a lot because they don’t have money or disagree with the government, these mostly start with strikes on like more money for most jobs, taxes, what we think could be better at a time like this. There was just some protesting going on about Donald Trump being the new president, protests can also be civil disobedience they mean the same thing. But a lot of people don’t say Civil disobedience, they mostly say we are going to protests and which is the common thing to

In the simplest of terms, civil disobedience is not harmful to a society. Laws that are broken in the name of a movement are broken with careful consideration of the consequences. In the moment that someone chooses to disobey a law they disagree with, they decide that the benefits of that law being broken outweighs the cost of being incarcerated. Very few in the world today would willingly choose to throw away their life, to be labeled as a criminal, to stand up for what they believe