Question

Choose ONE law or rule that you feel is unjust. Argue WHY, and then follow it up with a hypothetical scenario about WHAT you could do if you were to practice “civil disobedience” in opposing that rule/law. Finally, do you think Thoreau would be against this particular rule/law? Why or why not?

Answer 1

civil disobedience:

Step-by-step explanation:

This idea of rightful disobedience has inspired protests in various degrees and kinds in America ever since the Boston Tea Party, and it continues to inspire such actions even to the present day. Beginning in the mid-20th century, however, a significant modification of the idea has gained legitimacy and prestige in this country and around the world, as many Americans and others have become persuaded that organized disobedience can be not only rightful and, in a higher sense, lawful, but also civil—it can effect a popular uprising against injustice even as it remains in conformity with the requirements of civility and social stability.3

See Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall, A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000); and Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011).

Such actions have become increasingly normalized in post-1960s America, as groups protesting a wide range of issues—including, in a partial list, nuclear armaments, abortion, environmental policy, and more recently, alleged misdeeds in the financial-services industry, immigration policy, and alleged police misconduct—have laid claim to the method of civil disobedience.