Civil Disobedience

-
“Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.” 
― Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience  


It has unfortunately become the norm for people to cowardly sit back and observe injustices being committed upon others because they themselves are not directly affected. People are afraid of going against the power of the majority, a fear which governments have thrived upon by enabling the spread of disunity within the nation. As we have read before in the federalist papers by Madison, the most feared faction is the faction of the poor because they are sitting on unbelievable power. If they were to realize the raucous that they could create the balance of power would forever be changed. Madison feared that such a realization would lead to a redistribution of wealth and property. What Thoreau is discussing is the idea of disobeying the law out of loyalty to your morals. His belief is that we are ethically bound to opposing the law if it is unjust. An unjust government that does not represent your position has no right to continue governing over you. In such a situation it is your responsibility to become an opposing force to that power and prevent its regulations from corrupting your integrity. Thoreau spent some time in jail for vehemently opposing to pay taxes that he knew would support perverted endeavors. He knew there would be consequences but chose to stand his ground instead of becoming a part of the problem by passively submitting to the rule of the land. If more individuals opted to take this course I guarantee that the government would be far more responsive to the needs of those they govern.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alexander Keyssar: Do Away With the Electoral College

-
Historian Alexander Keyssar wrote “ As a nation, we have come to embrace “one person, one vote” as a fundamental democratic principle, yet the allocation of electoral votes to the states violates that principle.” No other aspect of the constitution is as outdated as the system of the electoral college. The devastating effects of its prolonged implementation can be witnessed by the results of our most recent presidential election. The electoral college went against the vote of the majority and imposed its will upon our nation. The idea of the electoral college was incorporated into the constitution during the founding as a way to minimize the power imbalance between high-population and low-population states. There was also a mistrust in the judgement of our citizens that created a need for a back-up plan in case the election resulted in an unacceptable appointment. Part of this mistrust was due to the fact that communicating information across all states about the c...
Read more

The Presidency

-
"In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well." Barack Obama  Obama's speech addressed more than the obvious racial tension occurring during his campaign. Obama spoke about the history of our nation and its failure to work past differences that prevent progress. Our country has struggled with unity and loyalties since its commencement. Even back when we were still a British colony there were still some individuals who supported the rule of the king out of convenience. Once we became independent it was necessary to adopt this position of neutrality in global affairs because there was an overwhelming amount of political matters to work throu...
Read more

Daniel Webster

-
Daniel Webster’s infamous speech on March 7 th , 1850 tackled an issue that was tearing the nation apart; slavery. American interest and perspectives at the time were vastly different depending on geography. The north was more industrialized, their economy was not as reliant on cheap or free labor like the South’s was. The truth is that the North’s rejection of slavery was a result of financial and political reasoning, not ethical concerns. This Northern fear of the South’s extensive population can be most appreciated by the implementation of the three-fifths compromise (1787). There is absolutely no implication to slavery’s immorality but there is instead an attack against its “fairness”. Because the North had no dependence on slavery it became easier for them to condemn the practice. Eventually the abolitionist movement did start, around the 1830’s and the humanitarian aspect increased within the movement. Working as a union was a fairly new concept, and making it wor...
Read more