Civil disobedience has had varying degrees of prevalence ever since the history of civilized man. This fact is due to a variety of causes including social points of stratification, basic economics and even religious concerns. hat is interesting about these periods of strife is that they frequently accompany periods of quiescence -- whether willingly or unwillingly on one faction or another. As such, the best examples for the use of civil disobedience are found in the analysis of various points in history. Such an examination frequently elucidates the point that social progress has routinely occurred on the heels of civil disobedience; perhaps the best examples of this fact include the Revolutionary ar, the Civil Rights movement, and the Vietnam ar.
The use of civil disobedience is well illustrated with the Colonial ar and the revolution that occurred in America as a result. The central aspects of this conflict -- which involved…...
mlaWorks Cited
Arendt, Hannah. Crises of the Republic. New York: Harcourt Brace. 1972. Print.
Calvert, Scott. "Baltimore Mayor Fires Police Commissioner Anthony Batts. The Wall Street Journal. Web. 2015. Web. http://www.wsj.com/articles/baltimore-police-union-criticizes-departments-response-to-rioting-1436372551?tesla=y
Dzurec, David. Prisoners of war and American self-image during the American Revolution. War in History. 20(4), 430-451. 2013. Print.
Orbe, Michael. (2005). "The more things change…:"civil rights health assessment in a 'Majority-Minority' U.S. Community. The Howard Journal of Communications. 16, 177-199. 2005. Print.
The concept of moral disobedience occupies a vital place in the discourse of ethical philosophy and civic action. This form of disobedience is an act of noncompliance with laws, directives, or societal norms predicated on individual or collective moral principles that are in stark conflict with such edicts or customs. Moral disobedience is rooted in the notion that obedience to authority is not an absolute imperative, especially when such obedience would lead to actions deemed unethical or unjust from a moral standpoint (awls, 1971).
Historically, moral disobedience has been instrumental in driving social and political change. Thoreau (1849) in his seminal work, "Civil Disobedience," argued for the moral imperative to disobey unjust laws, as he famously did to protest against slavery and the Mexican-American War. Thoreau's philosophical stance underscores the significance of individual judgment and conscience as a counterbalance to societal directive when such directives undermine fundamental justice.
Moral disobedience is not…...
mlaReferences
Arendt, H. (1963). On Revolution. Penguin Books.
Chomsky, N. (1967). The Responsibility of Intellectuals. New York Review of Books.
D\'Emilio, J. (1983). Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities. University of Chicago Press.
Dworkin, R. M. (1977). Taking Rights Seriously. Harvard University Press.
He goes so far as to say that disobedience may be the thing that eventually saves the human race. His argument is that if people blindly follow the commands of the leaders of their nations, and the leaders of their nations have a reason to bomb one another, then the human race will be eradicated because those people obeyed the commands to push those bomb-sending buttons (Fromm). According to this argument, disobedience must at the very least be considered valuable and worth contemplation.
Fromm supports his claim regarding the value of disobedience with examples from two very popular myths. The first is the Hebrew myth of Adam and Eve, the first human beings to walk the earth. The story is told that Adam and Eve disobeyed a command to stay away from the fruit of one particular tree in their home, the Garden of Eden. hen they disobeyed this command,…...
mlaWorks Cited
Asch, Solomon E. Opinions and Social Pressure.
Fromm, Erich. Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem
Zimbardo, Philip G. The Stanford Prison Experiment
This is designed to help support individuals who are dealing with financial challenges. The problem is that select amounts of recipients will use as a way to live off of the government. (Wolf, 2005)
How might a socialist and a capitalist government differ in its treatment of the problem of unemployment?
Socialists want to see massive amounts of government spending to create new jobs, training programs and provide unemployment benefits. A capitalist is opposed to these kinds of programs and believes that charities / private enterprises can address these issues.
In your opinion, should the government have the responsibility of providing health care for every citizen? Why or why not?
Yes, the government should provide health care. The reason why is because prices are increasing exponentially and the number of uninsured is rising. These factors are a sign that there is very little competition inside the sector. To address these imbalances a government…...
mlaReferences
2012 Puerto Rico Statehood Amendment. (2012). Boards. Retrieved from: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77582334
Commerce Clause. (2012). Britannica. Retrieved from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/127865/commerce-clause
Principles of Constitutional Construction. (2010). Constitution.org. Retrieved from: http://constitution.org/cons/prin_cons.htm
Sin Taxes. (2005). Six Taxes. Connecticut Voices for Children. Retrieved from: http://www.ctkidslink.org/publications/bud05sintax02.pdf
What does this have to do with the rest of paragraph 27?
The individual and the institution of the state cannot flourish when their interests are in competition: one of the 'seeds' must die.
33. In this paragraph, Thoreau talks about how he sees his neighbors in a new light after his night in jail.
After suffering the loss of his liberty, he sees how little his neighbors are willing to risk of their own security to see justice done.
Paraphrase each of these observations:
a. "I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as good neighbors and friends;"
I saw that the people amongst whom I lived were good in name only -- they spoke about the value of justice, but would not lift a finger to do promote justice.
b. "that their friendship was for summer weather only;"
They did good deeds only when it was convenient for them…...
He centers on people's inability to act according to the dictates of their conscience, for the existence of laws and policies rendered society paralyzed and unable to think conscientiously about their actions -- that is, whether the actions they committed were conscientiously right or wrong. Asserting this point, he stated, "Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?... Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward." From this passage, Thoreau stressed the importance of civil society as the primary holder of power and control in the sovereign rather than the individuals who were supposedly given the function to represent civil society (i.e., political leaders and officials).
In "On the duty of civil…...
' However, ill-tempered is a somewhat subjective judgment, given that the protestors of the civil rights era were likely to be judged as similarly 'ill tempered' by those who opposed African-American legal parity with whites. King's claim of lovingly breaking the law did not mean that he joyously accepted his punishment of jail time for exercising his rights in the segregated south: King may have embraced his punishment because of his hopes for change, not out of some sort of self-abnegating humility. The civil rights movement was about self-assertion of one's rights. The love in his heart came from his hope for the possibility of change. This did not mean, just like contemporary groups, that he was not outraged by his jailing and the violent actions of the police against civil rights demonstrators.
But James J. Lopach and Jean A. Luckowski seem to have another agenda: their distaste for the causes…...
Conflict between Civil Obedience and Moral Freedom (Free ill and Personal Conscience) in the Discourses of Henry Thoreau, Martin Luther King, and Plato
People in societies, upon establishing institutions that provides and maintains order, unity, and peace within the society, are bound together through an agreement. This agreement, termed the "social contract," binds people together to commit subject themselves to the power of the government, where part of an individual's free will is given to it. The government acts as an agent, the representative of the people, in order to ensure that all members of the society comply with the laws of Nature, wherein humans are under obligation to follow.
In effect, the government plays a vital role in ensuring the society that peace, unity, and order are established. Any deviation or disobedience from the laws imposed by the society can result to punishment of the individual. Indeed, social institutions such as…...
mlaWorks Cited
King, M.L. (1963). Letter from Birmingham Jail. Available at http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/MLK-jail.html.
Plato. Crito. Translated by Sanderson Beck. Available at http://www.san.beck.org/Crito.html .
Thoreau, H. (1849). On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. Available at http://www.constitution.org/civ/civildis.htm .
How should one interpret the final escape attempt? There are definitely more sides to it. First of all, Luke is trying to escape his prison condition and, in conformity with everything that has been shown so far, battle authority and manifest his disobedience against rules and order. However, it is also an attempt to escape his own human condition, also a similar type of prison to the one he is experimenting in his real existence. Caught between a set of societal rules that need to be respected in order to be able to survive in society and his own fight against authority, corroborated with his desire to lead an existence without such boundaries, Luke attempts escapes from his own human condition, which is probably what increases the drama and tragedy of the movie, because we all know that is not possible except through death. This also anticipates the end of…...
Gandhi Influenced Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King Jr. is a historical figure as he helped to win civic liberties and social equality for the Black Americans during the 1950s and 1960s. His approach towards the struggle was based on nonviolent civil disobedience as opposed to armed struggle. In that, he was inspired by the philosophy of nonviolence used by Gandhi to gain independence for India against the British. Despite belonging to two different cultures and historical periods, there is great fundamental similarity in the philosophies of both the leaders. At the same time, King adopts a more active approach and gives relatively less stress on personal suffering and endurance.
hat King adopted from Gandhi's Philosophy
Gandhi initiated the civil disobedience movement against the British rule in the Indian subcontinent. Since the British had military superiority over the local Indian population, Gandhi devised a novel and effective strategy to highlight the illegitimacy…...
mlaWorks Cited
Center for Compassionate Living. Principles of Nonviolence. Center for Compassionate Living, 2012. Accessed on 25 April 2012.
King, Mary, E. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.: The Power of Nonviolent Action UNESCO Publishing. 1999. Print
Nojeim, Michael, J. Gandhi and King: The Power of Nonviolent Resistance Greenwood Publishing. 2004. Print
The King Center. The King Philosophy. The King Center, 2012. Accessed on 25 April 2012.
Two, countries or world leaders might act with selfish motives. For instance, genocide might be ignored if that country is a valuable trading partner or a member of a strategic alliance.
Non-Violent Civil Disobedience
Discussion 1: Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr. And Nelson Mandela all organized massive movements based on non-violent solutions to major social crises. In each of these cases, non-violent solutions resulted in positive social change. Ghandi secured India's independence from British colonial rule; King bolstered the Civil Rights movement and helped break down institutionalized racism in the United States; and Nelson Mandela fought against apartheid even from within his prison cell. Each of these cases demonstrates the effectiveness of non-violence as a means to secure social change. Moreover, in each of these cases the non-violent movement brought the cause into the public arena. Ghandi, King, and Mandela garnered tremendous support for their causes by refraining from the…...
Charles Fort's We do not Fear the Father and Louise Edrich's the Lady in the Pink Mustang, what are the metaphors, similes and allegories in these two poems? How do they enhance the meaning of the poem?
A pink car signifies that she wants to be a girly-girly with a simple life, but the car, proud, and different. The car is a mustang, which is a wild, fast, and promiscuous creature. "The sun goes down for hours, taking more of her along than the night leaves with her," reflects the kind of empty work that she does during the night, and that she only belongs to herself in the day time when she is not performing. "It is what she must face every time she is touched, the body disposable as cups." Could the girl in the pink mustang be a stripper, a showgirl, or a prostitute? Regardless, she feels…...
Monkey Wrench Gang," by Edward Abbey [...] issue, where does Monkey Wrenching (the type of political activity in the Monkey Wrench Gang) fit into protest politics as a bridge to mass movement politics? Is Monkey Wrenching a part of the fabric of participatory democracy? Monkey Wrenching is clearly extraordinary politics, but does it have a place in our participatory representative democracy?
THE MONKEY WRENCH GANG
Participation in America may seem like a dying art, but every day, thousands of Americans participate in their communities, take care of others, and spout their political beliefs for the betterment of all. From grandmothers who read to children in their local library, to college student protesting the war in Iraq, citizens in America have the right to change the world, one person at a time. Edward Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang" is a novel of participation at its best. The motley gang of four who…...
mlaBibliography
Abbey, Edward. The Monkey Wrench Gang. New York: Perennial Classics, 2000.
ELF
Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
ELF Logo 2009 (Earth Liberation Front, N.d.)
Eco-Terrorism Overview
Examples of Eco-Terrorism Groups
The Earth Liberation Front
If a Tree Falls in the oods: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (Documentary)
There are many people and/or groups who claim responsibility for the Earth Liberation Front's (ELF) development. The group is comprised of loosely affiliated or autonomous cells that are only bound by the idea that they can move beyond civil disobedience and accept more contentious tactics for the defense of their environmental causes. This group was one of the groups that helped coined the label of an "eco-terrorist" which later became mainstream label of such types of offenders. The ELF group was considered one of the first eco-terrorist groups and was at one time labeled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as the most dangerous domestic terror group in the United States.
This analysis will provide a background on eco-terrorism followed…...
mlaWorks Cited
Earth Liberation Front. (N.d.). Earth Liberation Front. Retrieved from Earth Liberation Front: http://earth-liberation-front.com/
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (N.d.). Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code. Retrieved from Federal Bureau of Investigation: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition
Jarboe, J. (2002, February 12). Testimony Before the House Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. Retrieved from Federal Bureau of Investigation: http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/the-threat-of-eco-terrorism
Libcom.org. (2012, January 12). If a tree falls: A story of the Earth Liberation Front (documentary). Retrieved from Libcom.org: http://libcom.org/blog/if-tree-falls-story-earth-liberation-front-documentary-12012012
Letter From a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr., and John Locke's views on social contracts. Specifically it will discuss the structure of law according to Locke and how King's views on civil disobedience and how they related to Locke's views. Both men talk about the types of laws and whether they are social contracts, along with our obligation under law.
John Locke believed laws were central to a civil society, and in fact, they defined civil society. He wrote, "Those who are united into one body, and have a common established law and judicature to appeal to, with authority to decide controversies between them, and punish offenders, are in civil society one with another" (Locke 3). He also believed that no one should be exempt from the laws, or a civil society would not exist. Laws are created when civil society elects representatives, who pass laws that act…...
mlaReferences
Locke, John. Chapters 7 & 8.
Tarcov, Nathan. "Locke's Second Treatise and 'The Best Fence Against Rebellion'." The Review of Politics, Vol. 43, No. 2 (April, 1981), pp. 198-219.
Gandhi is one of the most fascinating people in all of recent history. An advocate of passive resistance, he not only helped free India from British oppression, but also inspired the 1960s Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Gandhi’s work is so well-known that his name has become synonymous with both peace and leadership. However, his personal life was marred by some controversies, suggesting that even great men can have terrible flaws. We cannot possibly tell you all about Gandhi in a few paragraphs; his life and his life’s work....
Title: Navigating the Crossroads of Authority: Exploring the Legitimacy and Limits of Power in Political Theory
Introduction:
At the crux of political theory lies the intricate interplay between authority and power, a dynamic relationship that has sparked debates and shaped paradigms for centuries. This essay delves into the multifaceted concept of legitimacy, interrogating the foundations of authority and the boundaries of power. Through a comprehensive analysis of historical and contemporary perspectives, we will explore the challenges and complexities of legitimizing power, the tensions between various sources of authority, and the implications for political practice and social justice.
1. The Sources and Foundations of....
Outline for an Essay on the Boston Tea Party
I. Introduction
A. Hook: Begin with a captivating fact or anecdote about the Boston Tea Party.
B. Background: Provide a brief context about the American Revolution and the tensions between the colonies and Great Britain.
C. Thesis statement: State the main argument of the essay, e.g., "The Boston Tea Party was a pivotal event in the American Revolution, igniting widespread protests and ultimately leading to the Declaration of Independence."
II. Causes of the Boston Tea Party
A. The Tea Act and its impact: Explain the provisions of the Tea Act and how it....
I. Introduction
A. Brief explanation of protests as a form of activism
B. Thesis statement: Protests serve as a powerful tool for advocating social, political, and economic change.
II. Historical Context of Protests
A. Overview of significant protests throughout history
1. Civil rights movement in the United States
2. Anti-apartheid movement in South Africa
3. Women's suffrage movement
B. The impact of these protests on society
III. Types of Protests
A. Peaceful demonstrations and marches
1. Examples of successful peaceful protests
a. Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington
b. Gandhi's Salt March in India
2. Benefits of peaceful protests
B. Civil....
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