Oscar Wilde's Argument For Civil Disobedience

Irish author Oscar Wilde’s assertion that disobedience is indeed a valuable human trait and it does promote social progress is valid; his argument is justified through the several significant qualities being disobedient would bring: independence, dignity, as well as awareness.
Foremost, disobedience is a valuable human trait, and it promotes social progress, because it allows an entity to be independent. In the early seventeenth century, the British empire intended to colonize the United States of America. During this process, conflicts occurred between the supposedly loyal subjects of Great Britain and the person who held ultimate authority- the king. American colonists felt that they received unjust treatments from their country, as the empire repeatedly deprived them of their wealth by placing outrageous tariffs. They did not give in, instead, they became determined to fight for better conditions and revolted, or disobeyed the king’s will. Eventually, the United States gained independence and prospered. The inspiring success of the colonists not only testified that disobedience was able to

empower them to stand up for their beliefs, but also demonstrated that disobedience allowed for social progress- becoming independent, to be precise. The colonists were submissive at first, and over time, Great Britain continued to take advantage of them and enforced even more unjustified regulations. No positive change would have occurred if the colonists chose to conform, thus, being disobedient resulted in the decisive change.
Furthermore, acts of disobedience were seen through protests led by Cesar Chavez, which would improve working conditions of Latino Americans.

Chavez adopted Gandhi's method to hold non-violent protests, and he strived to improve Mexican Americans working conditions, such as wages. In order to achieve his purpose, Chavez disobeyed; he disobeyed the unjust laws that treated Mexican American workers with inequity. Precisely because of the protests he led, the U.S was able to witness the dignity of a minority group that is essentially being bullied. Because of his will to rebel, people have realized that there was need for change. Because of his disobedience, law makers were prompted to make changes to grant these workers proper civil rights. Disobedience, a rebellious and expressive trait, allowed Cesar Chavez to demonstrate his dignity, and guided him to push for social

reform.
Lastly, disobedience is taught to me at school; it is a trait we need in order to be informed. In history class we were told to not blindly follow the information in the textbook. The implicit meaning of this simple instruction is: to disobey, to disagree. It is not until we disagree, we start to ask questions, and it is not until we start to ask questions, we consider multiple perspectives of the information. By disagreeing, disobeying, we become more aware and consequently become invincible to any type of “brainwash”.
Proponents may argue that that disobeying would bring disorder. This argument is valid in a sense because disobeying literally means not following orders. However, they fail to realize that disobedience is often necessary to initiate positive change. In addition, disobedience can be performed in organized manners and without violence. For example, protesters led by Chavez were organized and did not resort to violence.
Ultimately, disobedience is a valuable trait and it is required for social progress because it allows individuals to become independent, dignified, as well as informed.