Matthew Lu

Prof. O'Brien
HIST 1302
1/25/2014
Civil Disobedience
David Thoreau sees the role of the US government as sort of a necessary law. The
government is there to help maintain order, as if there was no order society would not be
able to function as a whole. Thoreau also sees an issue with people who have power. He
asks if there could be a "government in which the majorities do not virtually decide right
and wrong, but conscience"(Thoreau). With this, he questions the morality of the role of
government, as people can and have prosecuted people solely based on the majority instead
of logic and ethical behavior. Thoreau questions why every man has a conscience, claiming
that "we should be men first, and subjects afterward"(Thoreau). Paley claims that
government is necessary "as long as the interest of the whole society requires it"(Thoreau).
Once the need is gone, with the side of justice becoming corrupt as a whole government
will have lost its intended function. Thoreau states that it is mans duty to break out against
the common majority to speak out against injustice, rather than wait for the majority to
change their opinion.
Thoreau urges citizens to break laws for a multitude of reasons. He claims "If the injustice
is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go"(Thoreau). The
primary reason people would need to rebel against the law is to break the possible
systematic injustice that may occur within the government. He claims that even though the
State has ways to remedy the situation, it takes too much time and by then, people would
have died already. However sad this may sound, I believe that it is impossible to employ
the method of breaking the law in the case of the US government. However, it is possible
for nonviolent protest to be utilized in order to make an attempt at change. Breaking the law
as of now would not serve any purpose in terms of change. In countries that aren't as
developed, people can rebel and create uprisings in order to forcibly change the government.
In Ukraine, the current protesters are attempting to change the government for the better.