Thoreau/MLK/Thinking?
Based upon class discussion and your recent reading of Civil Disobedience and Letter From Birmingham Jail,
what are you thinking regarding individual rights and freedom? Please
respond to this blog post by 2:30p.m. on Wed., Sep. 27th.
posted by Greg T at Sunday, September 24, 2017
29 Comments:
I think that rights and freedom are so important. People should be able to believe what they want, think what they want, look how they want, etc. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail, it talks about unjust and just laws. Laws are essential to having a civil society. They are used to keep us safe and under control. There can be unjust laws to. Laws that go against people’s rights or go against a minority race, gender, etc. I believe that people should be able to express themselves freely unless it could be harmful to others. If it is completely unharmful, there should be no instance in which people are not allowed to express themselves.
Matin Luther King is known as a big part of US history. He helped defeat major racism and much of what he did is still talked about today in a good way.
I think that every single human should be given the same rights unless they have committed a serious crime. We should not discriminate based on what someone looks like. We are all the same. Martin Luther King wrote a letter while in jail (for protesting) about nonviolent resistance to racism. During that time there was extreme racism going on, however what MLK did helped America become more aware of their actions and his letter definitely attracted more attention to the matter.
I think individual rights and freedom should be protected. I do not think that unjust laws should be allowed because this goes against our constitution, which says the people should rule not be ruled. To me this is an important statement because throughout history many minorities opinions were suppressed just so others could get ahead. I think the letters from Birmingham are a perfect example of one's rights being suppressed so another could benefit. It shows MLK fighting for his rights,which are being taken away from him by people who have all of their rights. It also shows that all he wants is his freedom and not the violence that has occurred. I think people should be able to freely do what they want unless it is harming others and the letters are a perfect example of one trying to get their freedom.
After listening to others and reading both the Civil Disobedience and Letter from Birmingham Jail have similar ideas. Both talk about creating a sense of equality for all people, yet they are set in very different time and setting. When comparing them it is a little hard because you cannot always compare apples and oranges but this is an interesting circumstance. I believe that both articles show a different perspective of how to overcome civil disobedience or unequal civil rights. Overall it is very interesting to see the difference between times and situations to see how they are handled and dealt with.
The two texts have made me think a bit more about order versus justice. Maybe the two authors are right when saying that laws should be made based on the desires of the people rather than the need to enforce control. I must disagree with Thoreau, however, on the issue of limiting laws. If the laws aren’t bad, they don’t need to be resisted. I think both authors have a good strategy of achieving justice in the form of civil disobedience. They’re philosophy is solid; if a law is unjust, it should be disobeyed until it’s removed. I think this should only be done, however, once a group feels like they are being harmed specifically because they are that group. Overall, these texts have made me think more about the legal system.
Freedom and rights are both very important things in life. I believe that they are both things that every human being should have and it should only be taken away from those who take advantage of it like criminals. Like Martin Luther King said we have just and unjust laws, more so in the past but we still sometimes have issues with it today. I agree that peaceful action should be taken to get rid of or change unjust laws because these go against the rights of the people and takes away parts of their freedom.
Civil disobedience has really made an impact on American society, and Martin Luther and Thoreau basically have the same idea, but different purposes. Martin's civil disobedience impacted an entire race in America while Thoreau really only benefited himself.
"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." (Paragraph 4, Letter from Birmingham Jail) I think Thoreau and MLK JR. have very similar ideals in the manner that they both believe that we as individuals are unique and powerful, but overall as a community we are all part of a hive mind; we're all walking the same pathway of life. I think that both authors display a great ideal on change, that it shouldn't be achieved with force, rather a greater change can be achieved through civil disobedience.
After reading both Civil Disobedience and Letter from Birmingham Jail, they both have similar themes/ ideas. As a person, you should be treated equally no matter what religion, color, life style, etc. It shouldn't matter what you believe or what you look like, you should be treated the same as the next person. The only judgment factor that she be is work ethic. If you are a hard worker than that should be a judging factor, not what you look like or how you pursue your dreams/ beliefs.
Individual rights and freedom are super important to everyone, especially living in the United States. Our freedom of speech is something every single person has access to use and should use. After reading both Civil Disobedience and Letter from Birmingham Jail I noticed both expressing that we should stand up for what we believe in. By speaking up like Martin Luther King and Thoreau we will be able to truly exercise our individual rights and freedom.
When reading the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” I noticed that his ideas and views are very powerful to the reader. I think that the rights and independence is very important for everyone. Even though Martin Luther King was in jail, I like how the fact that he still didn’t give up in his protest along with his dreams, just because he was in jail. Martin Luther King is a very inspirational person to us Americans, and he was able to help us get those rights for everyone. I think that people should be able to do what they want, as long as nobody's getting hurt because of it.
In the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" I observed how fragile our freedom is and that we should not take it for granted. I think that today U.S. citizens take our freedom for granted and do not understand the amount of deaths and losses that were put into our flag. "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and Civil Disobedience are both really influential works of literature that better our understanding about America's individual rights and freedom.
What I found to be similar between the articles is that they both want the best for the society they live in but, they don't have the same way of getting to that goal. one author believed that the majority must decide on what is wrong and right and the other author believed that order must be enforced to create control. With both of these options there are sacrifice, with the majority rules that can mean that almost half of the people that voted are turned away and with the enforcing order that can take away peoples freedom.
When reading "Letters from a Birmingham Jail," I realized that Martin Luther King was very passionate about right for everyone, not just for African Americans. Also, his presentation was not big, it was just a letter, which in most cases can be more powerful than a big announcement because it's civil. Martin Luther King continued to protest this even though he was in jail. This made me think about how similar it is to the article 'Civil Disobedience.' Civil Disobedience talked about standing up for yourself and straying from the government because it's not what you believe in. Regarding rights, I believe that it is right for every person to have the same rights regardless of race or background. I also know that I'm the kind of person that would participate in Civil Disobedience. I think it's a good way to make a point and it's way more effective.
Flaws exist everywhere however, the system that is supposed to be deigned for our freedom is hiding the truth, using humans and brainwashing them so they can obtain an even higher power. A relation to this aspect of robotic like persuasion is when Thoreau examines how self dependency is more pure than the uneducated government. He notes ideas that "There is no little virtue in the masses of men." Laws can be unjust if it disobeys the natural flow of nature. A further examination of unjust laws is Martin Luther Kings letter from Birmingham jail when he encourages to make a change through the immoral laws that go against his idea that some laws can "degrades human personality." I do think that the government manipulates the masses in order to achieve an easier to control population. They hide information to keep us ignorant and happy.
I think that individual rights and Freedoms are important enough to be protected and improved if at all possible. Everyone should be treated equal and everyone should have the right to change their circumstances so that they can improve their own life. In my life I am very content with the way things are. I would not participate in Civil Disobedience because I have no need to and because things like that disrupt the lives of other people.
MLK and Thoreau have a lot in common when it comes to these two pieces of writing. Both focus on an ideal world in which everyone has freedom, and both are anti-government in their own ways. Both writings focus heavily on individualism, equality, and nondiscrimination. A difference I recognized between the texts is that Martin Luther focuses specifically on racial discrimination in the United States, while Thoreau criticizes the United States Government for going to war with Mexico, and focuses on several aspects of that. But overall, these two texts are very similar in a variety of ways.
From what i've read, I think that individual rights and freedoms is a topic that is very important to making a society that works well. One reason I say this because before MLK pushed for civil rights, the country wasn't functional because a big chunk of the populational wasn't receiving the rights and liberties that were promised to them in our country's constitution. I also think that the fight for civil rights is something that should be fought for continuously until it has been completely solved because it is such an important part of one's life.
I believe that MLK and Thoreau both have similar point of views when it comes to equality and an anti-government involvement role in people's lives, but I also believe that there are different goals and ideas regarding both of these writings. Which I think is important, considering they both are written in different times with different circumstances. Despite some differences, both of these people appear to be extremely passionate about equal rights for all. These letters allow others to relate as these letters not only have a sort of relevancy to their time, but also now. I believe that equality is not only important for people to feel like they can succeed in life, but so they can have the opportunity to help others and create a change for the better.
They both had similar view points in terms of our society is not functioning the way it should be. They are both very passionate about each cause. Martin Luther King Jr. on one hand was punished for his beliefs and opinions. People may not agree with Thoreau's way of life but he was never put into jail and he was not assassinated. I believe that each individual has the right to their own opinion. Everyone may not understand their views and they may not respect them but I believe that we need to learn to co-exist with them.
Both are very alike they both seem to say that our society is not working and both seem very credible and make some great points. Many people did not like MLk's beliefs much like Thoreau but Thoreau was not belittled for what he believed in like MLK was. I think we all need to accept that people will believe different things and we have to live with that because theirs not much we can do about.
Some similarities between Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau are both had a goal of equality and fair treatment of people, and they both worked very hard to help achieve that goal. They had similar views on society and it's weak function.
I don't agree with people when they say that America is not equal. I would like for people to try to give reasons why there is no equality in our country. All these famous celebraties are protesting saying that they are not equal and how they need to be treated fair but if we did not treat them fair, they would not be celebraties and they would not have the money or opportunities we have gave them.
After reading Civil Disobedience and Letter from Birmingham Jail, it's inspiring to see Martin Luther King was still fighting for his dream. Our individual rights and freedom are super important, especially in today's world. We should not be afraid to stand up for what we believe in. Martin Luther King was one of those individual who did stand up for not only his, but millions of other people's rights. King is still a historic inspiration that we should all look up to.
Thoreau and King both heavily stress the idea that in order for us all to be free, we must rid ourselves of societal hierarchies, whether they are based on race, wealth, gender, etc. Individual rights play a key role in this action, seeing as if citizens are taught to hold true to their individual ethical beliefs and are not prosecuted for these beliefs, some strictness of the established hierarchy can dwindle. However, it is almost impossible for these classes to be completely abolished. Class inequality is natural, however, it is the way that we treat those of different classes from us that truly establishes how progressive and effective our freedom is.
I think that every individual deserves rights and freedom. People should be able to do what they believe in without being judged or discriminated, even if people don’t have the same beliefs they should live their own life and stop trying to change others. Every person is created equal no matter their skin color, religion, or ethnicity so no matter where they are at in the world should get the same rights as everyone else.
it is evident that King and Thoreau want to get rid of these social classes we have put ourselves in. Thoreau is against Society entirely, but I think he is against it because of these classes. Society corrupts man, but Society is corrupted man's need to feel superior to each other. King has a similar view on these social classes. At the time, and even today, we think less about people based on the way they were born. We should stop looking at their gender, or their religion, or the color of their skin. We need to see each other as equals, get off of our ego-fueled high horses. We need to see that every man is born the same, but it is our hard work and personality that separates us. People need to earn their place in this world, but we need an equal shot at doing that.
After reading both the letter and the essay I think that even though people think that we don't need a government we do. The day we don't have the government anymore will be a sad day because without the government we don't have the police because they're funded by the government so we don't have rules. It will never work its impossible. On the other side without the government we have our on rules and we can teach our kids the things we want them to know and don't teach the things we don't want them to know. So in this scenario very much dislike the democratic way of thinking, I believe that everyone should have the exact same starting place and equal rights but its up to them where they end up at and just because someone ends up further ahead than you,does not mean you can take their money so you're equal. That's how government works because if you make more money that means more money get taken from you which isn't right. I also agree with MLK that everyone should be treated equal throughout their lives, but it's hard to trust people when they don't trust you back.
After reading Civil Disobedience and Letter from Birmingham Jail I think that individual rights and freedom is a necessity for a society to thrive. From a moral standpoint, it's better to allow people to exercise individual rights and freedom but from a government standpoint it is easier to maintain order if people think they have rights but the government at the end of the day is in the most control, according to Civil Disobedience. Both of these literary pieces are arguing how citizens are almost taken advantage of by the government because we aren’t given enough rights and that still applies to the world today. Though, thanks to MLK, we have a lot more rights than we used to.
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