Disobedience.pdf

Effortless English

just: fair, good, correct and fair

by means of: because of

well-disposed: people with good

thoughts (with good hearts)

agents: actors, doers

injustice: unfairness, wrongness,

badness, evil

undue: too much, not necessary

a file of: a line of

soldiers: fighters, army people

colonel, captain, privates: ranks

(levels) of people in the army

admirable: should be admired; wor-

thy, good

against their wills: not by choice;

against what they want to do

common sense: what most think is

correct and right

conscience: feeling of what is right

and wrong; moral feeling

damnable: horrible, terrible, wrong

inclined: what someone usually

does or thinks (usually peaceful)

forts: an army building, a base

unscrupulous: without morals; with-

out goodness

the mass of men: most men

the State: the country, the nation

standing army: permanent army

exercise: use (noun)

the judgement: ability to make deci-

sions

the moral sense: ability to decide

what is right and wrong

manufactured: made, created

command: demand, require

straw: hay

lump: small round piece

considered: thought to be

abominable: horrible, terrible

obedience: doing what someone

else tells you to do

the media: newspaper, TV, etc...

moan: make a sad sound

blame: criticize

shift: move; change

solely: only

carrying out their orders: doing

what they say to do

abandoned: left; got rid of

dutifully obeying: doing what other

people say-- because of duty

Disobedience

Publish Date: December 3, 2006

All Sound (Audio) Archives Available At:

http://www.effortlessenglish.libsyn.com

“Law never made men more just ; and, by means of their respect for

it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice . A

common and natural result of an undue respect for law is, that you

may see a file of soldiers , colonel , captain , privates and all,

marching in admirable order over hills to the wars, against their

wills , indeed, against their common sense and consciences . They

have no doubt that it is a damnable business in which they are con-

cerned; they are all peaceably inclined . Now, what are they? Men

at all? Or small movable forts , at the service of some unscrupulous

man in power?

The mass of men serve the State thus, not as men mainly, but as

machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army . In most

cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the

moral sense ; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth

and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will

serve the purpose as well. Such people command no more respect

than men of straw , or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of

worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these are commonly

considered good citizens.”

-- Henry David Thoreau (Civil Disobedience)

Many of the abominable problems in the world are the result of obe-

dience . In our personal lives, in the media , we cry and moan and

blame "our leaders" for the problems of the world. We shift responsi-

bility to them. But are they solely responsible? What about the thou-

sands and millions who are actually carrying out their orders ?

These people are the ones actually doing the terrible things that their

leaders want done. These people have abandoned their conscience

and have abandoned their responsibility.

Can such people be considered adult human beings at all; or are they

still children, or dogs-- dutifully obeying their master-parent?

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soldiers: fighters in an army

trigger: part of a gun that you pull

(in order to shoot)

torturing: hurting (someone who

is helpless or powerless)

orders: commands

particular: individual

discharged: fired (from the army)

refusing: saying no (to an

order/command)

disobey: not do something that

you are told to do

unjust: not fair, not good, not

moral

follow their conscience: do what

you think is right/good/moral

rebels: those who fight against

authority/power

resistors: people who resist, peo-

ple who don’t obey

condemned: criticized, blamed,

said to be guilty, accused

unpatriotic: not loving your coun-

try, not loyal to your country

imprisoned: put in jail, put in

prison

vilified: described as a bad per-

son, described as a terrible or evil

person

harsh: tough, not kind, not gentle

a radical: someone who fights for

big changes; someone who fights

the government

celebrated as: praised as

the authorities: the government;

those with power

scum: low class people, criminals,

bad person/people

to break unjust laws: to disobey

bad laws

lifetime: time a person lives; time

when a person is alive

Think of the American soldiers currently in Iraq. In the end, it is not

George Bush who is pulling the trigger or dropping the bombs or tor-

turing the prisoners. He merely gives the orders - orders which no

particular man or woman must follow. For while they might be dis-

charged or put in prison for refusing an order, no one will be hurt or

killed for doing so.

Isn't Thoreau correct? Aren't our true heroes the ones who disobey

unjust laws? Aren't the true heroes the ones who follow their con-

science ? Here in America, it is our rebels who are our historical

heroes- those who refused to support injustice: Martin Luther King,

the heroes of the American revolution, John Brown, Malcolm X, Susan

B. Anthony, Vietnam War resistors ....

In the present, such people are always condemned . They are

attacked, called unpatriotic , imprisoned , and vilified . Yet history is

usually kind to such people, and harsh to the unjust. In the 1950s,

Martin Luther King was vilified as a radical . Today, he is celebrated

as a hero, while the authorities he resisted are now viewed as the

worst kind of scum .

Thoreau, and later Gandhi and Martin Luther King, all believed that

individual conscience was more just and powerful than law. All three

encouraged people to break unjust laws ; and to instead have

respect for what is good, right, true, and just. Though all three men

are now dead, their message is as important today as it was during

their lifetime .

“Thoreau was a great writer, philosopher, poet, and a most practical

man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practice in

himself. He was one of the greatest and most moral men America has

produced.”

--Mohandas Gandhi

Learn More:

Civil Disobedience (Wiki Article)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau)

Civil Disobedience Essay (Full Text)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau)

The Martin Luther King Center

http://www.thekingcenter.org/

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