Tavares 1 John Tavares Prof. Mitchell-Wagner English 1A 22 April 2014 The Light That Failed B.

Answer Thoreaus question: Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress[i.e., disobey] them at once (para.16)? Please use concrete examples. Drastic changes need to be made in our country. People are tired of following laws that they believe are outdated so they decided to take it amongst themselves to make a change. This has been happening since laws were created. In every generation there has been that one political leader who stepped up to speak his mind knowing that he could be punished for doing so. The only sad thing about our political leaders is that most of them end up getting assassinated like Dr. Martin Luther Kings Jr., Malcolm X, and John F. Kennedy. These assassinations have struck fear in the American citizens, which is a sad thing because citizens shouldnt be afraid of their government for speaking their minds. We must not let fear hold us back from making a change. We need more people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela so we can continue making a change in our world. I chose Henry Thoreaus Civil Disobedience as my essay topic because it opened my eyes to viewing the government in a different way. For example Thoreau claims in Civil Disobedience, The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies (Thoreau 2). Men are starting to become blind in the

Tavares 2 military when they are sent off to war to kill other men because there government tells them to do so. This is sad because these soldiers are following orders from men who never have to step foot into a combat zone. More soldiers should become like Thoreau and disobey to follow their orders. They should spark a revolution that could influence other soldiers not to go to combat. Nothing is really solved by going to war and killing each other. The only way to solve a problem is to talk it out and make compromises with each other, but our government would rather kill people first and ask questions later. Thoreau makes a comment in Civil Disobedience that changed the way I viewed at voting. He says, Even voting for the right is doing nothing (Thoreau 4). When we vote we leave things up to chance. He makes it clear that voting is like a game and we only hope for the best and expect the worse. But many laws that people think should be change end up failing to pass on the ballots when its time to vote, like gay marriage in California. The gay and lesbian communities show that even though gay marriage is banned in California, it didnt stop them from going to other states that legalized gay marriage to get married officially. The gay and lesbian communities left it up to chance but didnt let in crush their spirits. If Rosa Parks never refused to sit in back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama then she wouldnt have influenced other colored people to refuse to follow the Segregation Laws. Rosa Park made a huge impact on the civil rights era. Rosa Parks was fed up with obeying the Jim Crow Laws and finally made the decision that she would risk getting killed over for what she believed was rights. For example, in The Story Behind the Bus Rosa Parks states, "When I made that decision," she said later, I knew that I had the strength of my ancestors with me (thehenryford.org). For her to feel the strength of her

Tavares 3 ancestors with her must have been an overwhelming feeling. I imagine this is how it feels when you win a championship in a sport or when you are elected president. I have never encounter a feeling like that and I am almost jealous of her. I wish I had the courage to stand up for the laws that I believe are unjust but the consequences, is something that scares me to stay quiet. Thoreaus view on a true man in Civil Disobedience is something that made me think twice on whether Im doing my job as a man in this world. Thoreau writes, Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison (Thoreau 7). There are a lot of laws that people disagree with but instead of doing something most people tend to do nothing. People always talk about how we need to change our laws, yet most people never think about what they can do to make a change. If someone was to do something drastic like Rosa Parks did then maybe they could spark a revolution of their own. We need to do something that could channel us with our ancestors like Rosa Parks did so we can reach our true potential. People need to stop waiting on other people to handle their problems for them. In Civil Disobedience Thoreau claims, They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret. We need to stand up to our government and tell them all the things that they are doing wrong. For example, our government is wasting too much money on weapons for the wars that we are instead of giving the money to our schools so that we can maybe go to college for free. Instead of wasting more money on weapons for the war we can send the money to the NASA budget, which is about to take crucial budget cuts from President Obama. In an article title Another Year, Another Set Of Bizarre Cuts To NASAs Budget written by Phil

Tavares 4 Plait points out, President Obamas proposed national budget for 2015 is $3.9 trillion. NASAs budget is less than half a percent of that (0.45 percent to be more accurate) (slate.com). This is a slap to the face because we need to explore space for possible planets that support life because we are running out of our natural resources on our planet. We cannot continue to sit back and not think about the problems going on in our government because this is an issue that affects everyone. Thoreaus view of taking action into your own hands is something everyone should consider doing. For far too long our government continues to pass laws that people dont agree with. For example, the "Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions," is designed for the government to take over the Internet communications during a national disaster or terror attack. This is just another way of the government taking control over our lives. We cannot continue to let the government slowly take over our lives and follow all their unjust laws that they continue to invent. We need to take action or we will become another North Korea and deal with Internet censorship. If we dont make a big fuss about this new law then our government will continue to see what other laws they can pass that the public will not care about. This law can lead to our government censoring television and radio if we dont take actions into our own hands. Each day that we continue to do nothing the problems will only get worse. Its interesting how Thoreaus view on the government in Civil Disobedience can still be relatable today. Thoreau claims, What makes this duty the more urgent is the fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army (Thoreau 3). Today citizens of America have the reputation of being ignorant by other countries

Tavares 5 due to our governments constant warfare. This is a reputation that is false because there are a lot of free minded people who think war is wrong in America but dont do anything about it. Our government is all about force, which is the wrong way to go about things. Our government should be one that listens to people rather then to beat them for protests on important issues that need to be discussed. We need to continue protesting and go further and start petitions to change laws and other issues that need to be changed because they are outdated. We cannot continue letting our government silence us with fear and force, we need to be courageous like Thoreau and face the consequences for what we believe is the right thing to do. We need to be pioneers and be the example for the new generation so things can be better for our children. In conclusion, Thoreau is an important character that should gain more recognition for his power literature and actions to help shape our nation for the better. We need more Thoreaus in our generation to spark the flame in our governments wrongful actions. Things can always be better in our nation that grant more American Citizens freedom from wrongful laws that are outdated. There are so many issues that need to be addressed today and we must not fear the consequences for speaking our minds when we have the freedom to do so. We must tell our government what to do, not have it the other way around which is going on rite now as you read this paper. All over the news there seems to be a country that is always protesting their government unjust laws and fight back when the police starts spraying them with tear gas and rubber bullets. We as Americans need to have the same courage as the other countries so we can connect and form a revolution that will unite the nations together for the better and finally have peace one day.

Tavares 6 Works Cited Thoreau, Henry D. Civil Disobedience. Canvas.com. PCC, 1 April 2014. Web. 16 April 2014. The Story Behind The Bus. Thehenryford.org. n.p. 7 September 2002. Web. 17 April 2014. Plait, Phil. Another Year, Another Set Of Bizarre Cuts To NASAs Budget. Slate.com. Bad Astronomy, 5 March 2014. Web. 17 April 2014.