Civil Dissobedience and Taking a Stand

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Recommended: Positive impact of civil disobedience

Civil disobedience, is often the last step that people take to bring attention to a topic or subject that they feel strongly about. Every day is full of unjust rulings that may not be to everyone’s liking. Many people fight for what they believe in even if the outcome is bleak. You are your own self and you will always have your opinion that may not match all other citizen’s. Civil disobedience has escalated to a majority of non- violent protesting, although there are some cases including violence. It is a form of rebelling against what they feel is unfair or unconstitutional. Showing civil disobedience is an act that you must be willing to accept the legal consequences, which may include incarceration.

As time goes by there are many things that happen in society that cause a rebel against rulings of the government. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey laws as a way of forcing the government to do or change something (Merriam-Webster) . Thoreau begins his essay by arguing that the government is rarely ever useful and that it derives its power from the majority of people because they are more powerful, not because they hold the most legitimate viewpoint. He says the citizens’ first obligation is to go with what they believe is right and to not follow the law dictated by the majority. When a government is unjust, I feel that people should refuse to go with the law and stay away from the government for their well-being. This may include not being a member of the government all together. Thoreau talks about how the United States meets the guidelines for an unconstitutional government He supports himself with the history of slavery and war (SparkNotes).

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...y that they were right. Their only way to bring attention to this was the act of civil disobedience. This drew attention to their issue and drew support from citizens in the community. They hope that this new focus of attention on their issue would help Walmart see that the workers did indeed deserve more pay. They hope that Walmart will reconsider the practice of low pay to their workers.

Works Cited

"Civil Disobedience." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014

"Harmon, Carolyn." 3st Quarter Civil Disobedience Project. "Class handout for College Prep English 1, Troy Buchanan High School, Troy. 16 February 2014. TS.

Miles, Kathleen. "Largest Civil Disobedience In Walmart History Leads To More Than 50 Arrests." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.

SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.

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