Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience Questions

1. Think about what a “citizen” is. How would you define a “good citizen” of the United States? How does Thoreau define a good citizen?

I would define a good citizen as someone who does the best they can in order to serve their country and help it progress. Thoreau would define a good citizen as a person who will stand up to the government and fight unjust laws that they pass.

2. MLK, like Thoreau, says we have a “moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” and Gandhi says that resistance to such laws is a “sacred duty.” What is an unjust law? How can one show respect for law even while breaking it? What if everyone acted according to their conscience?

An unjust law is a law that oppresses, or unequally effects people and miss treats them. You can show respect for the law by still following it but disobeying its principle. If everyone acted according to their consciences then we would have a lot of people that are protesting for just about everything.

3. Is dissent patriotic? Is it moral? Is it Christian? Is it American?

A dissent is patriotic, it is moral, it is Christian, and it is American. Having an opinion different from your predecessors doesn’t mean that you are not of the same affiliation as them.

4. Is it true that the mass of men serve the state as machines? That they do not use their own minds, their own consciences? What does the state do to the people who follow their conscience?

I think that it is true that the mass of men serve the state as machines. They often do not think for themselves and just follow what the majority of people in what they decide. The state often doesn’t like those who follow their conscience because it is against what they are saying and so they try to stop their progression.

5. Should we, as citizens, trust statesmen and legislators to tell us what is in the best interests of the state? Should, for instance, statesmen be allowed to define “patriotism”? or “good citizen”? or “justice”? or proper “morality”?

We as citizens should be wary of statesmen and legislators because even though we would like to think that none of them are corrupt, the truth is that we have to be wary of everyone because if we are ignorant then we won’t know if they are cheating us of what we rightfully deserve. Statesmen shouldn’t be allowed to define patriotism, good citizen, justice, or proper morality because if they were to define it then they could twist the definition in order to fulfill their own purposes.

6. What is Thoreau’s opinion on wealth and consumption? Why does he say that the rich are less likely to practice civil disobedience? Why do issues of economic class figure so centrally in the works or Thoreau, Gandhi, and King?

Thoreau’s opinion on wealth and consumption is that he believes that no one should use material good but should only use things that they themselves make and that they shouldn’t seek after material things. He says that the rich are less likely to use civil disobedience because they aren’t oppressed like the poor because they are the ones in charge. Economic class figures into Thoreau’s, Gandhi’s, and King’s works because they affect the principles that they are fighting or arguing for.

7. Martin Luther King, Jr. says “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor.” Why?

This is because those who oppress are intentionally taking freedom from those that they oppress. It would be a paradox if an oppressor intentionally gave freedom.

8. What happens when the government grows so large and powerful that it can no longer be resisted effectively? Are we then still “free”? What does Thoreau say we should do? What happens when the state (i.e. government) goes right up to our income and takes the taxes out before we see them? How then can we resist the actions of that government? What defines a “free” state?

When a government grows so large and powerful that it can no longer be resisted effectively it becomes a totalitarian style of government. When the government takes the taxes before we have them it takes away our free agency and makes the government oppressive. The only way to resist the actions of that kind of government would be to defy the government itself. A free state is a state that is one where the people decide what they are going to do and not be told what to do by the government.

9. King’s public “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (April 16, 1963) is written in opposition to a specific opinion piece signed by eight clergymen and published in the Birmingham News. How does King dismantle the argument the clergymen and others have made about “outside agitation?” What four steps does King say are necessary in every nonviolent campaign? How does he say that his followers and allies have carried out these steps in seeking to achieve racial justice in Birmingham? According to King, what is the immediate purpose of direct, nonviolent action?

King says that those that are oppressed have every right to practice civil disobedience especially through nonviolent action. His four necessary steps to a nonviolent campaign are the collection of facts to determine if there is injustice, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. He says that he and his followers have demonstrated the fact that there is injustice and have tried to negotiate with the majority. They have also taken action and shown nonviolent protest.

10. What should be done with people-preachers, iconoclasts, educators, and anyone else- who seemingly undermine the values of the society where they live as Thoreau was doing in New England, or Martin Luther King in the South? What seems to be the proper relation between the individual and the community and between the local community and society in the broader sense? Consider Kay Anderson’s attempt to stop Michael Moore from speaking at UVSC a couple of years ago because “this man does not represent the values of this community.”

They should be left alone because it is a right to have the freedom of speech. The proper relation between the individual and the community and society is that the individual should be involved in the community and individuals as a collective form society. I find it ridiculous that Kay Anderson tried to stop Michael Moore from speaking at UVSC because he “does not represent the values of this community.” Everyone has the freedom of speech and should be allowed to say what they want. Just because she doesn’t agree with his views doesn’t mean others in the community don’t.