The Concept of Civil Disobedience - Term Paper Example

Civil Disobedience in Modern Society Civil disobedient is a term that refers to the resistance to the government by deliberately disobeying established laws by the government as a protest against some issues. The term civil disobedient has its history in the works of Henry D. Thoreau who refused to pay poll taxes due to his claim that paying taxes to the government was equivalent to supporting the immoral actions of the government such as the institutionalization of slavery and the American-Mexican war. Henry D. Thoreau had reservations towards these two actions by the government and used this as a basis to want to reject the payment of taxes. Based on the concept of civil disobedience, it can be argued that this it can only be useful when used for the purpose of advocating for others needs. . Henry D. Thoreau used the following two rationales; Paying taxes is supporting the government to do immoral acts Thoreau’s argument was that since citizens pay tax to help the government carry out its business, when the government is involved in actions which don’t measure up to the moral standards, paying such taxes is as good as supporting the immoral acts. If the government is involved in the mistreatment of human beings, paying the tax to government is supporting these acts. In Thoreau’s case, two issues were at hand. First, the issue of slavery, which at his time was still legal and supported by the government of the USA at the time. Thoreau’s conscience was that slavery is immoral, as well as unconstitutional. The United States of America’s constitution establishes that all human are made equal. Since slavery had different standards for black people, and black people did not have rights like other people, especially white people, this was not only unconstitutional but also immoral. In this regard, Thoreau felt that paying tax to a government that allows slavery to be carried out was supporting this immoral action. Not doing opposing an immoral act is as good as supporting it (acquiescence) The other dimension of Thoreau’s civil disobedience was the issue of acquiescence. This argues that refusing to act against the wrong actions of another person, government, or any entity, is as good as giving permission or giving a green light into the rightfulness of the actions. In other words, just standing by and watching other people do the wrong things is as good as joining them in the wrong-doing. Thoreau’s conclusion Thoreau’s conclusion was that all citizens whether as a group or as individual had a moral obligation and responsibility to resist against negative actions of the government. He argued that the citizens would not sit back and watch while the government conducts business that is against the natural laws of morality. Inspiration Thoreau’s argument, and his civil disobedience by refusing to pay taxes to the government, inspired a lot of people, both in the United States of America and away. Within the United States of America, he inspired leaders like Luther King Jr. who were civil activists almost a whole century after Thoreau had died. Luther used peaceful resistance in the United States in his opposition against the racial issues such as segregation. Although slavery was abolished in 1865, inequality persisted in the United States and this is what Martin Luther king and many other activists who came after Thoreau were opposed to. Other activists such as Malcolm X had advocated for all forms of resistance including the use of arms and violence. However, after some time, he also changed his paradigm and started advocating for non-violent resistance. These people can be said to have been inspired by Thoreau’s stand on civil disobedience. Other people include Mahatma Gandhi who led India in the mid of the 20th century. The role of civil disobedience With regard to the use of civil disobedience, there are various factors which come to the forefront. These include the following; Relevance and practicality civil disobedience The world can be regarded as full of injustices and in many cases, it is individuals who come up and not only oppose these injustices, but actually open the eyes of many to the issues at hand. In almost any society, there are some evils and immoral acts which become socialized such that the society does not see them as evil or immoral. It is the duty of those whose eyes are open enough to see that things to make sure that the evils can be seen and dealt with. This can be best identified in the case with regard to Thoreau’s issues. Slavery for instance, was something that had become socialized to the extent of not only making it hard for those who benefited from it (slave owners) to see the vice in it, but also for the oppressed to even think that things could or should be different. In such a case, a person like Thoreau would be the eye opener to both the evil doers in order to make sure that they understand that what they are doing is wrong, and also to the oppressed in order to show them that it is not normal or routine for them to be treated as such. Who should engage in civil disobedience? Of course, the main challenge with the issue of civil disobedience is that it can lead to anarchy in a society (Sreedhar 1833-1857). What if everyone uses it to hide behind the veil of conscience in order to disobey the laws of the nation? Every citizen has their own disagreement with regard to how some of the things are done in their society. Every person has his reservation about how certain issues are carried out by the government. For instance, in America today, many citizens are not happy with the American armed forces presence in the East, a lot of citizens are not happy with the Guatemala prison and many are not happy with the newly implemented healthcare act. If people were to start being civilly disobedient based on these factors and refuse to pay tax like Thoreau did, the whole society would be in shambles and it would be hard to manage. In this regard, the main issue is; when should it be used and why should it be used? More importantly, is it an effective way of changing the society for the better? Compassion as part of civil disobedience To identify whether civil disobedience is a better way to solve some social issues such as slavery, or the modern issues of military operations which seem to harm innocent citizens in poor countries than they are able to carry out their mandate, it is necessary to look at the history of civil disobedience. First, it is necessary to know that although the term civil disobedience was used first in reference to Thoreau’s actions, there have been many prominent people before Thoreau who used civil disobedience as a way to resist negative social issues in the society. Sophocle depicted the idea of civil disobedience in his play Antigone. In the play, the daughter of a former king is prohibited from giving her brother a proper burial and therefore says that she must still do it because she would rather obey her conscience than human law. Even when threaded with death, she still disobeys the current king who eventually makes good his threat. However, she says that it is better to be killed by the hand of human than to live and be smitten by her conscience. Civil disobedience in modern society Although Thoreau did not manage to have the government stop slavery during his time, his actions were very significant in the events that followed with regard to the abolishment of slavery. His actions and work inspired later civil activists to resist the oppression of minority races and ethnic groups. People like Martin King Luther junior were inspired by Thoreau’s acts in their action against the oppression of back people though segregation. Abolishment of slavery was done only three years after Thoreau died. Needless to say, his actions not only highlighted the evils of slavery but also enlightened many propel with regard to this issue and this made it possible to clear the ground for the foundation of the abolition of slavery. In India, the country made history by being the only country, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, to gain independence without armed resistance. Mahatma Gandhi, who was a pacifist, led a peaceful resistance against the British colonial powers until the country was given its independence. In light of these few examples, it is clear that civil disobedience can and is a powerful tool to deal with social issues in a society. According to Mahatma Gandhi, civil disobedience is not just a way to deal with ones conscious about problems; it is as well an issue of compassion. In his view, civil and peaceful resistance towards the powers that be is borne of the fact that the one is compassionate about people being oppressed. This can be seen thorough out the many agents of civil disobedience, such as Thoreau and Martin Luther. First, Thoreau’s refusal to pay tax to the United States government was based on the fact that the government was mistreating humans, or it legalized the mistreatment of other humans, such as through slavery and through the American-Mexican war. The same case applied to Martin Luther King who during his entire adult life worked so hard, even to the point of being sent to prison, towards forcing the government to improve the living conditions of black people. In this regard, civil disobedience is not about the selfish personal interests, it is about the compassion that comes from within the heart, and the desire to avoid the guilt that would come from not acting upon this compassion. Civil disobedience, when looked in a closer manner is a way of leadership, rather than just one person. Although in principle anyone should be able to participate in it, in practice, only a few people are able to participate in it. It is not the action that makes it a success; it is the display of leadership that comes with it makes it such a powerful action. For instance, Thoreau’s refusal to pay taxes due to the fact that the UAS government was mistreating people was to have made much difference because he was just one individual. But his actions were as a leadership opportunity to identify the social issues and highlight the social issues. Civil disobedience is therefore more of a leadership method as opposed to be a tool for change. Annotated bibliography Freeman, Harrrop. "The Right of Protest and Civil Disobedience." Indiana law Journal, 41, 3 (1966): PP. 227-267. Freeman’s (228) study was geared towards understanding how civil disobedience relates to law. Freeman wanted to investigate how the issues of civil disobedience relate to the issue of law. He also wanted to investigate the rights that are available for people to involved in civil disobedience when they felt hat something is not right. Unlike other people, he sees civil disobedience as a spectrum of tools which include pacifism-active goodwill and reconciliation, Non Resistance, Non violence direct action, civil disobedience, non violent coercion, Non violence by necessity and violence without hate. This article provides very useful information and insights into the need for civil disobedience and how it fits in the modern society. LeGrande, J.L. "Nonviolent Civil Disobedience and Police Enforcement Policy." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology , 58, 3, (1968): PP. 93-116. LeGrande (93) looks at the issue of civil disobedience in the context of police law enforcement. He argues that the concepts of civil disobedience are of importance due to their relationship to religious beliefs. This is important because people have a right to religion and the same religion asks them to act within their conscience, which is the centre of civil disobedience. This article is important in understating civil disobedience because it provides two important issues about civil disobedience; one is the role of law enforcement by police and the other is relations to religious beliefs. Sreedhar, Susanne. "Anarchism, Historical Illegitimacy, And Civil Disobedience: Reflections On A. John Simmons’s Disobedience And Its Objects." Boston University Law Review, 90, 05 (2010): pp. 1833- 1857. (Sreedhar 1833- 1857) study is a literature review about the issue of civil disobedience. She looks at how most political philosophers have regarded the issue of civil disobedience. In her article, she identifies that the main issue with the issue of civil disobedience is the issue of the object of civil disobedience, or what it is meant to achieve. This article is important since it tackles the topic of the importance of civil disobedience as well as the issue of when and where it is feasible to use it. Fiedler, Sergio. "The Right to Rebel: Social Movements and Civil Disobedience."Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Journal, 42, 1, 2, (2009): PP. 42-52. Fiedler (43) looks at the issue of civil disobedience in the context of modern democracy. He argues that civil disobedience is one of the tools for the masses to exercise their democratic rights. He identifies that this can be used in helping to exert pressure and forcing public and government authorities to deliver better democratic systems for the societies they live in. Thoreau, Henry. "On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience ." Hitory Papers (1849): pp. 1-39. Thoreau (2) in his article, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, identifies that citizens have a duty to defend their conscience by acting in resistance to the action of government where these actions of the government are not moral. He identified that a government is like a machine and that in cases where the machine produces immorality, it is the duty of the citizens to act as a counter friction to reduce and eventually stop this production. Conscience is at the centre of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is caused by the conscience that convinces a person who is being civilly disobedient that something is being done wrong and that they have an obligation to act in response to the immoral act being committed. The constitution provides for the right to conscience and it necessary for people to be allowed to act as their conscience says. Citizens who engage in civil disobedience should do it as a way to show their compassion for the greater society or for a group of people who are being mistreated. When used in this context and as a leadership tool to deal with negative issues in a society, civil disobedience is not only justifiable, but also affective in achieving a higher good for the society. Works Cited Fiedler, Sergio. "The Right to Rebel: Social Movements and Civil Disobedience."Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Journal, 42, 1, 2, (2009): PP. 42-52. Freeman, Harrrop. "The Right of Protest and Civil Disobedience." Indiana law Journal, 41, 3 (1966): PP. 227-267. LeGrande, J.L. "Nonviolent Civil Disobedience and Police Enforcement Policy." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology , 58, 3, (1968): PP. 93-116. Sreedhar, Susanne. "Anarchism, Historical Illegitimacy, And Civil Disobedience: Reflections On A. John Simmons’s Disobedience And Its Objects." Boston University Law Review, 90, 05 (2010): pp. 1833- 1857. Thoreau, Henry. "On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience ." Hitory Papers (1849): pp. 1-39. Read More