Civil Disobedience In The Vietnam War

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In a time of such political divisiveness and a president with record disapproval ratings so early in his presidency, civil disobedience has become the issue of the hour. Protesters have filled the streets daily to protest the man they feel has endangered the values of our nation. People have begun to fear the creation of a new narrative in our country, one predicated on “alternative facts” and “winning” at the expense of Native tribes and the environment in his resurrection of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines. Being necessary to the progress of our nation, Americans must not fall victim to a false narrative. In doing so, we must strive for independent thought, maintain our historical foundation, and ensure the fortitude of the …show more content…
Drawing a massive anti-war movement and widespread backlash from hippies and liberals, the Vietnam War was unparalleled in its unpopularity. Standing out in this wave of protest, Muhammad Ali would commit one of the most shocking acts of civil disobedience in the late 20th century. By flatly refusing to fight in the Vietnam War, Ali embodied the ideas of civil disobedience in the name of non-aggression. Although labeled as a draft dodger during that time, history will remember Ali as a man who stood up for what he believed in, even if that meant sacrificing his heavyweight championship and social prestige in order to exercise his independent …show more content…
Too often, the citizens of this nation are told to fall in line after the election of a new president. In the wake of the election of Donald Trump, those who voted against Trump have been told to be a patriot and stop whining. It was to this rhetoric that Thoreau was opposed. A true patriot, he argued, was a citizen who did not blindly follow the present administration, but a citizen who followed his own conscience and reasoning. In his own act of civil disobedience, Thoreau refused to pay his taxes, and accepted the consequence of getting thrown into jail. Thoreau knew the place of a just man in an unjust society was a prison. Therefore, in the presence of a Trump presidency, or any presidency, the citizenry must be prepared to act on the principles of their own independent thoughts and morals, even if those actions buck the rule of
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