Living in a country that has the freedoms to be able to say and write whatever you want whenever you want engraved into its framework is a privilege that some citizens are able to use and make a difference within the country. There are the opposites of this though who abuse these freedoms by going too far with their actions and cause negative consequences to other citizens within the country or the whole country itself. Examples of people who were able to use this privilege in a positive manner in order to change the country are shown through boxing champion Muhammad Ali who peacefully protested the draft and supported a non aggression based political agenda. Another influential figure would be Martin Luther King Jr. who was called upon
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led movements across the nation for a good cause, Ali led to end the draft and withdraw soldiers from Vietnam and King strived to end segregation and racism within the U.S. When Ali was confronted with his calling to go serve for the U.S. Army in Vietnam he calmly and peacefully refused and told authorities to “Just take me to jail.” Ali chose this route as he later revealed due to his beliefs and said “Why should me and other so-called ‘negroes’ go 10,000 miles away from home, here in America, to drop bombs and bullets on other innocent brown people who’s never bothered us and I will say directly: No, I will not go.” Ali however did not fight the consequences, he accepted them and served his time peacefully demonstrating his stance without hurting others. This kind of protest is what gets results because those in power will listen to reasonable people and will not become hasty to take counteraction a majority of the time, but cases such as Birmingham to rise where the opposing party is so set in their beliefs that they won’t listen. After the incident King goes on to describe their intentions in the profound Letter from a Birmingham Jail in which he states “Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise.” King goes on to describe how they go about non violent protests saying “in any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham.” Before this protest they had sat down and tried to talk to the town's officials without any response leaving them with this being their only option. In this manner peaceful civil disobedience is a very positive act because it can
led movements across the nation for a good cause, Ali led to end the draft and withdraw soldiers from Vietnam and King strived to end segregation and racism within the U.S. When Ali was confronted with his calling to go serve for the U.S. Army in Vietnam he calmly and peacefully refused and told authorities to “Just take me to jail.” Ali chose this route as he later revealed due to his beliefs and said “Why should me and other so-called ‘negroes’ go 10,000 miles away from home, here in America, to drop bombs and bullets on other innocent brown people who’s never bothered us and I will say directly: No, I will not go.” Ali however did not fight the consequences, he accepted them and served his time peacefully demonstrating his stance without hurting others. This kind of protest is what gets results because those in power will listen to reasonable people and will not become hasty to take counteraction a majority of the time, but cases such as Birmingham to rise where the opposing party is so set in their beliefs that they won’t listen. After the incident King goes on to describe their intentions in the profound Letter from a Birmingham Jail in which he states “Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise.” King goes on to describe how they go about non violent protests saying “in any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham.” Before this protest they had sat down and tried to talk to the town's officials without any response leaving them with this being their only option. In this manner peaceful civil disobedience is a very positive act because it can