Civil Disobedience
Essay Preview: Civil Disobedience
Report this essay
Civil disobedience is essential to people power movements. Demonstrations and strikes give power to citizens in their dealings with governments. But suck tactics may lead to violence and chaos. Under what conditions, if any, is civil disobedience justified? Is it justified in a democracy like Canada? Was it justified at Tiananmen Square? Explain your answer.
When it comes to civil disobedience, I believe it is justified when the leader ignores the needs of the people, and only thinks of them selves. It wouldnt be justified in Canada, since Canada uses democracy which gives the people the freedom of choice that they need and the government also has very little power so there is no threat of them becoming dictators. It was justified in the countries that were ruled by military generals and presidents that overthrew the previous government to get power. In these dictatorships the people were denied the choice of picking their own government. When the people tried to make the government listen, they were answered with violence, censorship of media, arrest, banning of strikes in trade unions, torture and executions. So in that kind of situation where the government refuses to give up and treats their people badly, what would you do? You would want to fight back and do what you can to change the system that is running the country. The only option left would be civil disobedience. People will get hurt, but not anymore that what they had already gotten and if theyre successful in overthrowing the government and changing the system, it will be much easier for them in the future. So civil disobedience is justified when the government is a tyrant and treats his countries people badly.