There have been many controversial events that have happened all throughout history. Many of them due to the fight between your conscience and what you’re supposed to believe. People had to choose if they follow their heart or be like everyone else. Henry David Thoreau, a philosopher, wrote about this struggle in his essay, “Civil Disobedience.” Back in the 1960’s, when African Americans were heavily segregated against many people saw this as unjust and went against the government to fight for what they believe in. Things didn’t change for a long time, even though the job of our government was to protect people and give them their freedom and rights. In this current day a battle between the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the …show more content…
Civil disobedience is how things will start changing and will get the important conversations going. That’s what the protesters are doing, they know that this pipeline is not the moral thing to do, it is driven by money and greed. Thoreau also states that, “the government is best which governs least,” (1). He says that the government should stay out of citizens lives, that they should protect our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness only. They should do what is necessary to protect these rights, but nothing more. In our current day situation with the DAPL, the government, (which can include anything from the police force to Donald Trump signing to allow the construction to proceed) is taking away theses …show more content…
Others would argue that this pipeline will stimulate the economy and provide jobs, but these jobs won’t last forever. The Energy Transfer Partners argue that if this doesn’t get built here, then it will have to built somewhere else and other people’s lives will be disrupted. But maybe there are other ways? Other solutions that will make the big corporations, like the ETP, happy and won’t ruin the lives of the little people. Thoreau says that government favors the majority, and that proves to be true. But the majority doesn’t always mean justice. The big corporations have the influence… they have money. Money drives the world and has control over us. In most cases, money means power. But money doesn’t mean moral. I’m sure the lawyers and other powerful people who work for these big corporations would say, “who is to say what’s morally right or not?” But I’m sure they would turn right around and say what the protesters are standing for
The Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline are two pipeline projects that were suspended in the past. These pipelines were stopped because they could have a big impact of people and the environment. The making of these pipelines would cause a great amount of carbon pollution. Recently, President Trump signed the orders to approve the pipeline project. The projects have pros and cons, the people in favor of the pipelines think we would be able to rely less on foreign oil. The people against the pipeline believe that the pipelines would cause the release of gases into the air that could be harmful for other people.
“Urge the Senate to Stop the Risky Keystone XL Pipeline”. Letter. League of Conservation of Voters. Change.org. Web. 10 December 2013
Throughout a series of books, and now movies known as Divergent they hit a lot of points as to what is believed as a “good society”. In the series, Divergent all must conform and fall into a certain category Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudite, Candor, or Amity . If one fails to do so, and falls into all of the categories they are known as “Divergent," and must be killed for failing to conform to traditional society standards and rules. This relates to Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, because he talks about humans not needing a form of structure set by a hierarchy, such as a government. A good society according to Thoreau, is one with little to no government involvement, one that respects laws to a certain extent, and one that follows
Mahatma Gandhi, a prominent leader in the independence movement of India once said, “Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless and corrupt.”(brainyquotes.com) Gandhi states that protest and civil disobedience are necessary when the authority becomes unscrupulous. This correlates to “Declaration of Independence,” by Thomas Jefferson; “Civil Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau; and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr., because all three leaders felt that civil disobedience was important to help protest against an unjust ruling. Jefferson stood up to the injustice of the king by writing the Declaration of Independence and urged others to stand up for the independence of America. Thoreau exemplified
The title is an important aspect that should be considered and not misinterpreted. When this essay was first published it was under the title “Resistance to Civil Government”. The resistance in his title is later used as metaphor that compares the government to that of a machine. The machine is producing injustice therefore he says “If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth — certainly the machine will wear out.” He furthers this metaphor by saying “Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine.” After the death of Thoreau his essay was retitled “Civil Disobedience”. For the purpose of this essay civil is meant as “relating to citizens and their interrelations with one another or with the state”, and therefore civil disobedience stands for “disobedience to the state”.
In the great era of foundational philosophers, two stand out, Plato and Thoreau. Each had their own opinion on various topics, especially on civil disobedience. Plato’s life span was approximately 428-348 BC. Plato wrote numerous works throughout his lifetime, however we will be focusing on one, the Crito. Thoreau’s life span was 1817-1862. To help us determine what civil disobedience means to both of these philosophers we will first look at a general definition. According to Merriam-Webster civil disobedience is defined as “refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.” This definition will act as a springboard to compare and contrast both of their thoughts on the topic. We will determine, according to Plato and Thoreau, when we are called to engage in civil disobedience and when the moral parameters of civil disobedience are pushed too far.
Thoreau wasn 't one to take advantage of what the world had to offer and just took life what it was, all while following his motto of doing what was right. Thoreau sees the miracles of the world similarly to the Whitman poem because there isn 't a limit to what can be appreciated. There are quite a few modern views that compare well to Thoreau as they take that step away from society defined by technology and progression and just take a look at the bigger picture, one of these approaches is the recent Occupy Wall Street movement.
The Dakota Access Pipeline Plan issue will harm many people’s drinking water that will cause harmful effects to their bodies like cancer. Then destroying homes of many is unethical because Native Americans have civil rights like anybody else who has citizenship the in the United States. To have an ancestor that was mistreated so poorly, people would want to have their ancestor’s land like it was years ago when their ancestors were living there. Plus it effects the people living in the reservation of Standing Rock because oil by the companies contaminates the people’s only drinking
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a controversial project that extends over 1,800 miles, transporting more than 580,000 barrels of crude oil per day from North Dakota to southern Illinois. The Pipeline crosses paths with Native American territory including an ancient burial site, runs underneath the Missouri River and Lake Oahe, and may possibly cause many environmental and health issues. As a result, environmentalists and Native Americans have started protests and set up camps at the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s reservation and other areas in order to combat and end the project. The National Guard along with many police officials have tried to stop the protesting and alleged trespassing on private land with force, leading many to believe that they have treated
In Henry Thoreau’s essay, Resistance to Civil Government, the harmless actions he takes to rebel against the government are considered acts of civil disobedience. He talks about how the government acts wrongful such as, slavery and the Mexican-American war. This writing persuades Nathaniel Heatwole, a twenty-year-old college student studying at Guildford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, to take matters into his own hands, by smuggling illegal items on multiple Southwest airplanes. The reason in that being, is to show the people that our nation is unsafe and dangerous. In doing this, he takes his rebellion one step too far, by not only jeopardizing his life, but as well as many other innocent lives.
After the initial discomfort of taking a stand against the pipeline for the rights of the Native American people, American citizens would be able to live in a more just society. It would be uncomfortable at first because Americans need to be resensitized to the injustice perpetrated towards the Native American people. We know what happened to their ancestors and recognize that it was wrong, but when it is still happening today, not many bother to care. To simply recognize the struggle and understand what the Native groups are fighting for is necessary to begin helping them achieve their goal. If their goal of stopping the pipeline is achieved, Americans could stand to live in a society more consistent with its core values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those core values are not often extended to groups like Native Americans, but by helping them regain sovereignty, they could be. By reshaping the conversation to make positive change a reality, we could resensitize and ensure that more people enjoy the benefits of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was a philosopher and writer who is well known for his criticism of the American government during the time. During Thoreau’s life, there were two major issues being debated in the United States: slavery and the Mexican-American War. Both issues greatly influenced his essay, as he actually practiced civil disobedience in his own life by refusing to pay taxes in protest of the Mexican War. He states that the government should be based on conscience and that citizens should refuse to follow the law and has the duty not to participate and stay as a member of an unjust institution like the government. I argue that the notion of individualism and skepticism toward government is essential in the basis of many important reform movements in the modern society.
and Henry David Thoreau’s ideas of how government should not be followed if laws are morally unjust according to religion are reflected in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock, South Dakota. They are a form of independent action and nonconformity that are quite distinct in their nature because they truly mirror ideas of great transcendentalist thinkers, unlike other protests in this era that seem to be unorganized and without clear purpose. The protests at Standing Rock are over the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline that would have to run through Sioux territory. The nonconformity seen at the Standing Rock protests is due to a feeling of a greater purpose due to religion. As a part of the Sioux religion, the people “[attach] religious and cultural significance to properties with the area” (Bailey). Therefore, any changes to the land around them goes against their morals and their religion, so action must be taken. This applies the principles of Thoreau because people are protesting the naturally unjust government, and the ideas of Martin Luther King Jr. can be seen because people are making their own decisions over whether or not the rule of government is just. Furthermore, it is not just the Sioux who are protesting, but also “religious communities such as the United Methodist Church and the Nation of Islam” (Bailey) This is because people of other religions also recognize the plight of unjust laws and act independently. They also
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American philosopher, author, poet, abolitionist, and naturalist. He was famous for his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, and his book, Walden. He believed in individual conscience and nonviolent acts of political resistance to protest unfair laws. Moreover, he valued the importance of observing nature, being individual, and living in a simple life by his own values. His writings later influenced the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, he advocated individual nonviolent resistance to the unjust state and reflected his simple living in the nature.
In his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” often times dubbed, “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) argues against abiding to one’s State, in protest to the unjust laws within its government. Among many things, Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher. He was a firm believer in the idea of civil disobedience, the act of refusing to obey certain laws of a government that are felt to be unjust. He opposed the laws regarding slavery, and did not support the Mexican-American war, believing it to be a tactic by the Southerners to spread slavery to the Southwest. To show his lack of support for the American government, he refused to pay his taxes. After spending a night in jail for his tax evasion, he became inspired to write “Civil Disobedience.” In this essay, he discusses the importance of detaching one’s self from the State and the power it holds over its people, by refraining from paying taxes and putting money into the government. The idea of allowing one’s self to be arrested in order to withhold one’s own values, rather than blindly following the mandates of the government, has inspired other civil rights activists throughout history such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both these men fought against unjust laws, using non-violent, yet effective, methods of protest. From these three men, we can learn the significance of detaching ourselves from the social norm; and instead, fight for our values in a non-violent way, in order to make a change in our government’s corrupt and unjust laws.