In class on Thursday 12/12/08, we had a speaker come in and talk about her acts of cimil disobedience. A lady who had been arrested nearly 60 times in her life, all to protest what she thought was the government's abuse of power. The most dramatic of her tales was when she was in Iraq, against strict protocol, helping families that were affected by the US invasion. She conveyed to us with her voice and expression the same emotion that she must have felt while in Iraq. I was left speechless. She believes non-violent protest and civil disobedience are the most potent way of getting your voice heard.
My main question now is, can people perform acts of civil disobedience and still be active members of society? The speaker we had, after all, doesn't pay taxes and owns not a single automobile. So how can a New Trier student or faculty aspire to live in open protest to the government if we want, without being seen as strange or outcasts?
The answer is... he or she probable cannot. In Thoreau's day, the government was still young and ripe for protest. Now, we are so used to the governments practices that any protest besides an anti-war march seems too edgy. I wish there was a way to open forum our protests to the government without having to break the law.
Our speaker laid it out for us. In order to live her lifestyle, she made a decision to change her normal way of life. For a high school student wanting to go on to college and beyond, I just can't see myself being able to protest in such ways.
3 comments:
I agree with you in that I didn't exactly picture myself living like her forty years from now, however, I don't think that that was the goal of her presentation. She struck me as the kind of person who leads their life as an example. While after hearing her I may not be ready to sneak into a military base in Iraq and speak my mind, but I definitely came out feeling revived and inspired. In class, we talked about how the most dangerous threats to society are those who have strong feelings against the government and do nothing to stop it-and I would agree with that. If you feel like that's something that applies to you, I don't think that you necessarily have to live like our speaker did. Writing a letter to a congressman or encouraging your friends and neighbors to vote for what they believe in DOES make a difference. It's just about taking steps in the right direction.
Thanks for the response Rosie. But to be truly a disobedient citizen, according to Thoreau, you must denounce the government at all costs. After all, "the government is one which governs the least!"
But how CAN you see yourself protesting, Willie? Do you have to be an extremist? Isn't there a "gray area" here?
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