Civil Disobedience Part 1 of 3

But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men,(4) I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.

The piece was based on the works of Henry David Thoreau.  The bases of the article was that we, as citizens, have a responsibility beyond a simple vote in elections.  We are called to stand against injustice perpetrated by our government, as in slavery or the Mexican-American war.  The writer suggests that many citizens are content to relinquish their moral responsibility to humanity and allow elected parties and government official to exercise inappropriate and unjust authority over those of lesser power.  The writer suggest it better to have no government than to turn over one’s conscience because of apathy.

I chose this paragraph because I agree that in order to achieve a desired government, one must first  know what kind of government he wants.  Our current government is not perfect.  It is always desired for better.  How is better achieved?  Most directly by voting, most practically in everyday actions.  Political action works, as demonstrated in the current presidential election politics.  Citizens have a voice that resonates.  The burning question becomes what issues the resonating voices advocate?

BONUS:   

Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right. It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience. Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.

This partial paragraph really resonated with me.  It at once reminded me of the Supreme Court’s ruling that ‘corporations are people’ and how many of us blindly accept what is done on our behalf by ‘our’ government.  I think many people are unclear on what they want and/or expect from our elected classes; if we don’t know what it is that we want how do we get it, or know if we have it already?