Civil disobedience

I think that it is justifiable to break the law when there are clear cases of injustice happening. Of course the definition of just/unjust can change in meaning from person to person and from situation to situation. In my opinion, an unjust situation is one where the basic civil rights of a person are violated. Furthermore, it is when there is coercion, excess use of power/violence and an undeniable unbalance where those on top abuse their power. If we were to take the current protests against police brutality happening around the country, we would be able to see that many communities have reached their breaking point due to social inequality. While I do not condone violence, I do think that in those type of situations some version of civil disobedience is necessary in order to bring attention to the real issues. It is immoral and unjust to target communities where there are clear lack of opportunities. At the same time, I think is unjust to generalize the actions of a whole organization based on the behavior of only a few. Either party would then be justified to take actions against the status quo but in an “organized” manner. As it has been shown, when chaos is combined with violence, one can only expect more chaos. I also believe that violence taints the ultimate meaning behind any type of protest and it serves as grounds for those in power to justify their actions.

I don’t necessarily agree with St. Augustine’s claim that “an unjust law is no law at all”. The reason being is because such radical statement can open the door for people to not follow any laws at all. Sometimes unjust laws need to be negotiated in order for them to benefit society. Other times is not the law itself that is unjust but rather the interpretation given to it by other people that makes it so. Civil disobedience should be seen as a last resort after all types of negotiations have been exhausted. Also, when taking this type of action one must remember that above all else the goal is to bring attention to deep rooted issues not to create more issues. Thus, one must be ready to accept any consequence without having to resort to violence.