Civil Disobedience Promotes Freedom

Civil disobedience is the active and quite often peaceful refusal to obey certain laws and it is an activity that has been practiced by many different individuals throughout history. Some of the more well-known individuals who engaged in this activity were Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and Gandhi. And looking back on history, I am thankful and appreciative of the courage that certain people displayed when they refused to obey certain dictates, because it ended-up encouraging others to do the same and it prompted individuals to pause for even a brief moment to consider the rules that were blindly being enforced.

I think one of the most important things to consider when it comes to civil disobedience is that it's important to remain peaceful when doing so. If the individuals aren't being peaceful, then the public will simply look at them as vigilantes, write them off as a threat or pot-stirrer that needs to be silenced, and then nobody will give them a second thought. But when the individual remains peaceful, and they openly accept the consequences of their actions, it can sometimes prompt other individuals to be awakened because of the perceived injustice being displayed.

Civil disobedience has been exercised by individuals who were standing up for what they saw to be (or should be) universal human rights, or against a perceived injustice against the masses, and in that sense those who engage in the act are helping to promote freedom and individual liberty.

Many people throughout history have done really bad things to others, and this isn't anything new because bad things happen every single day. The scary thing is though that many people have previously carried out evil acts while thinking they were doing a good deed, and they thought they were doing good because it was their job and they were being told what to do.

People choosing to blindly submit to authority has been the cause of immense suffering throughout history. Civil disobedience and civil resistance is what gives people power because it gives them a choice, it enables them to stand-up for what they believe is right.

Whether it is a cannabis dispensary catering to the market, or an activist organizing a peaceful hunger-strike or a boycott etc. over a cause that is important to them, there are many ways that engaging in civil disobedience helps to promote freedom and the idea of freedom for others.