"It costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than it would to obey." This statement by Henry David Thoreau says what many, every-day people throughout our history have felt in many cases of the law, the need to disobey to cause change. This is called civil disobedience, and it can get one arrested. It is sometimes worth the arrest, however, to keep our freedoms as individuals, and to change what is wrong. When it gets down to it, civil disobedience is all about change, as it is sometimes the only way to get things moving to change a law that many feel is unjust. This peaceful resistance has a positive impact on our free society through its ability to raise awareness to issues and its ability move us
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Civil disobedience is a good way to do this. If enough people get behind the movement, or enough attention is brought, it is very subject to change and get better. A famous, historical case of civil disobedience positively impacting free society is Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War. Ali knew what he was doing with his civil disobedience, and he was ready to accept the consequences of it, even going to the lengths of "just take me to jail" just to get his point across (Mullen). Ali had many opposers in this stance, but many supporters as well. This is a positive impact because it allowed everyone's views to be expressed, not just those "all-American" types that were so gung-ho about fighting in this war that they missed major points of personal freedoms. It is good because Ali was definitely not the only person to oppose the draft, he was just one of the most famous, and this allowed him the platform to represent his point and raise awareness to the …show more content…
From bigger issues that our nation has faced, like the fight for Civil Rights, to more modern issues, like the NSA scandal, civil resistance has helped us improve our society. The case of civil disobedience that Rosa Parks brought forth with her refusal to move from her bus seat, with the help of Dr. Martin Luther King, set into motion what would eventually lead to bus segregation being declared unconstitutional (Korpe). This was a huge moment in the Movement, and set things rolling for the course of equality of races. We would not have progressed that far, or that quickly, if it weren't for Parks' refusing to follow a law that many felt was
Civil disobedience is a good way to do this. If enough people get behind the movement, or enough attention is brought, it is very subject to change and get better. A famous, historical case of civil disobedience positively impacting free society is Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War. Ali knew what he was doing with his civil disobedience, and he was ready to accept the consequences of it, even going to the lengths of "just take me to jail" just to get his point across (Mullen). Ali had many opposers in this stance, but many supporters as well. This is a positive impact because it allowed everyone's views to be expressed, not just those "all-American" types that were so gung-ho about fighting in this war that they missed major points of personal freedoms. It is good because Ali was definitely not the only person to oppose the draft, he was just one of the most famous, and this allowed him the platform to represent his point and raise awareness to the …show more content…
From bigger issues that our nation has faced, like the fight for Civil Rights, to more modern issues, like the NSA scandal, civil resistance has helped us improve our society. The case of civil disobedience that Rosa Parks brought forth with her refusal to move from her bus seat, with the help of Dr. Martin Luther King, set into motion what would eventually lead to bus segregation being declared unconstitutional (Korpe). This was a huge moment in the Movement, and set things rolling for the course of equality of races. We would not have progressed that far, or that quickly, if it weren't for Parks' refusing to follow a law that many felt was