Defying the Government The government is supposed to keep an order, chaos free, and corruption free environment, but what happens when the government itself is corrupt? Well when the government itself is corrupt then what it says it stands for is nothing but lies because it’s corrupt. Then it must feed the people, that it’s supposed to be for, lies and when the government does that you have a country that is corrupt but is too blind to see. Herny David Thoreau explained this in “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience”. He also said that it’s the people’s right to defy the government if it is being unjust or corrupt. Along with telling the people that disobeying the government will be needed to get rid of the corruption. By not agreeing with him you must either not believe that our government or other country’s government is not corrupt or you are too blind to see it. …show more content…
A majority of people in the U.S. are stuck in saying something is wrong and hoping it will change stage, along with many other countries. A recent example of his idea is people saying that the program NSA is wrong. The only thing the citizens of America have done is complain that the invasion of their privacy is wrong and they should stop. They have not taken any other action other than protesting. Standing around and telling people it is wrong will not do anything! By doing nothing it’s allowing corruption to prevail and letting the government control us. This is one perfectly reasonable reason for the U.S. citizens to disobey the
¬¬¬Though most American people claim to seek peace, the United States remains entwined with both love and hate for violence. Regardless of background or personal beliefs, the vast majority of Americans enjoy at least one activity that promotes violence whether it be professional fighting or simply playing gory video games. Everything is all well and good until this obsession with violence causes increased frequency of real world crimes. In the article, “Is American Nonviolence Possible” Todd May proposes a less standard, more ethical, fix to the problem at hand. The majority of the arguments brought up make an appeal to the pathos of the reader with a very philosophical overall tone.
By using diction and repetition, Cesar Chavez emphases the need to use nonviolence during moments of injustice. The rhetorical choices made in this argument draw forth feelings of understanding and cause the readers to think deeper into Chaves' point of view. The purpose is to carry a message that shows the power of nonviolence and what it brings to the world. People quickly follow the straight, bloody path of force and violence, rather than thinking deeper in search for the winding yet cleaner path. As human beings, we crave the freedom and power we believe was bestowed upon us by God. We will fight tooth and nail, even threw the deaths of many, in order to achieve these trivial things.
As I've studied Henry David Thoreau's essay "Resistance to Civil Government," I've identified the persuasive elements and analyzed a specific portion of the text to create my own argument. In this essay, I will discuss the strengths and weaknesses found throughout both responses through the lens of persuasive analysis in order to prove my ability to utilize rhetorical strategies.
Persuasion Throughout history there have been many struggles for freedom and equality. There was the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. There was the fight against government censorship in Argentina, spoken against by Luisa Valenzuela. And there was the struggle for women's equality in politics, aided by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Martin Luther King’s initial purpose of using non-violent strategy was against American despotism regime for segregating African Americans. On December 5th 1955, King gave an address for being the president of MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association) during the days of Montgomery Bus Boycott at the Holt Street Baptist Church (Carson, 13). The main reason of this speech is to discuss the Montgomery bus boycott whether it should be continue or not. On December 1st 1955, a woman called Rosa Parks was arrested and asked to pay for the fine because she refused to give up her seat at the front of the bus when black section was full after she got off from work (Sanders, 3). In the speech, he described how African Americans were mistreated
Civil Disobedience makes governments more accountable for their actions and has been an important catalyst for overcoming unpopular government policies. To voice his disgust with slavery, in 1849 Henry David Thoreau published his essay, Civil Disobedience, arguing that citizens must not allow their government to override their principles and have a civic duty to prevent their government from using unjust means to ends. The basis for Thoreau’s monumental essay was his refusal to pay a poll tax, which subsequently landed him a night in county jail. In his passage: “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. If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine...
In a democracy, people choose representatives to lead and govern. However, these representatives might take unpopular steps. In such instances, the people may show their disapproval of a policy and vent their grievances through acts of civil disobedience. Henry Thoreau said, “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.” It is both the right and responsibility of a person to fight an unjust law, and civil disobedience allows one to convey his thoughts and ideas in a passive, nonviolent way.
Would everyone like to see how the community is affected ? The community and neighborhood is facing some major consequences. According to “Excerpts Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau described how this one person refused to pay the taxes to the government he decides to say something but his saying resulted to him being sent to prison for trying to stand up to the government. The government has not been telling us the actual issues . Based on the excerpt from the “Civil Disobedience” there are exactly three main points to the story. The first main idea is the people have been using their own ideas to try to get a way to end the government way for all of us to live because we need to see the point for all of us to live a life in
Henry David Thoreau starts Civil Disobedience with “I heartily accept the motto— “That government is best which governs the least,” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically” (para. 1). The impression that I got when I read this first sentence is that he had some issues with how the government works. His statement, “That government is best which governs not at all,” somehow sent me an impression that he does not want a government when in fact he just does not want how the government is structured so he calls for its reformation. He explained how a few individuals get to use a standing government as a tool to grab land from Mexico during the Mexican War. I think what he is trying to convey about the government
Throughout the 60’s, the Civil Rights Movement took charge in the U.S. and was heavily led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his ideas of demonstrating nonviolence. On the tenth anniversary of MLK Jr.’s death, labor union organizer and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez published an article championing MLK Jr.’s ideas of nonviolence. In his article, Chavez utilizes contrasting diction and inclusive language to emphasize the importance of nonviolence in the hopes of calling his audience to participate in meaningful nonviolent action. Firstly, Chavez employs contrasting diction throughout the article, to illustrate the effectiveness of nonviolence. Chavez states that nonviolence “supports” the people and “provides” “opportunities” which are done so
“Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau discusses the negative impact of the American government, focusing on how a good government is most beneficial when it does not govern. Thoreau additionally discusses how the government continuously loses its integrity as people take advantage of it. The government gets in the way of the good the people can do. In contrast to Thoreau’s ideas, the Canadian government benefits society and provides services that improve quality of life. In addition to the differences in government styles between the countries.
1 Matthew Klabunde American Literature SA SY24 Civil Disobedience 01 May 2024 Civil Disobedience Choice 2 Thoreau's essay "Resistance to Civil Government" is very similar to the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King , Jr. Both use the same writing strategies to convince and encourage their readers to become active in civil disobedience to get the government to make a change in society for the betterment of the people. Thoreau uses mainly logical appeals to prove his point, but he also uses ethical and emotional appeals to keep the reader passionate about the idea of civil disobedience. Evidence of Thoreau using logical appeal to convince his readers to stand for what they believe is right is when he states “There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing.”
Throughout Thoreau’s essay, he expressed his opinions and beliefs on the importance of civil disobedience in a society. He talked about how one must use his or her moral sense, conscience, to decide what is just and unjust. From here, Thoreau urged his readers to take action, to stop the machine from continuing its lifeless duty. His call to action is if a system is prone to corruption, the people must disobey it. This means that personal endangerment may be needed to do what is right. Going against the status quo to uphold justice and ethics is the basic message behind Thoreau’s essay.
... middle of paper ... ... He requires too much from the government, institutions and most importantly the citizens. To expect all the citizens in a democracy to lack ambition and greed is practically impossible, especially when modern society teaches individuals that ambition is a necessary component of success.
Coastal erosion is the process of the removal of sediment within a specific beach segment over a fixed period of time. Ongoing for thousands of years, coastal erosion impacts several beaches within Sydney, and the issue is rapidly expanding along the coastline away from larger urban areas. The degree of coastal erosion can be measured through the volume of beach sediment, such as sand and gravel, lost during a particular event, or the movement of significant beach features towards land. The causes of coastal erosion are due to both natural and human activity and can be divided up into exogenic processes, natural disasters and human occupancy. EXOGENIC PROCESSES: Exogenic processes are external processes, such as wind and rain, occurring on or above the Earth's surface.