Individual Will Within Society

Introduction

Does a citizen have an obligation to obey the will of the State if it goes against the individual's will? The only obligation anyone has is to do what they think is right. When laws are broken, consequences are inevitable. Obeying the law is every citizen's duty, but if a law is seen as unjust then a citizen might choose to disobey the law or take direct action to try and change the law. This is the only way a "democratic" society can learn from its mistakes and progress.

Discussion

As a civilized, reasonable human being, people generally know not to put others in danger or to rape, molest, murder, or cheat anybody. Anyone of sound mind knows the same. The laws prohibiting these crimes are not debatable because anyone with common sense knows that such acts are wrong; no one needs the State to inform them of this. The laws we respect everyday such as, obeying traffic laws or paying for things deserve that respect. Only laws that are in obvious need of change should be questioned or perhaps broken.

From time to time, laws that people find to be unjust are changed. This only happens when enough people take a stand and demand change. For example, the American Revolution against Britain occurred because the Patriots no longer wanted to be under British rule. It was illegal to go against the king, but many citizens did just that. Disobeying the State is necessary in these circumstances, because only by disobeying do things get changed. If there is enough motivation to disobey the State, people accept the punishment for disobeying gracefully. When Jesus Christ was crucified for his civil disobedience, his punishment of being crucified turned him into a martyr. Similarly, when people are punished or imprisoned for standing up for something they believe in, people who support their cause see them as a sort of martyr.

A common misconception in our society is that all laws are in place to protect the citizens. However, this is not the case. Some laws serve absolutely no purpose except to get more money for the State or to up the number of prison inmates. Also, some laws are based purely on morals or religion and shouldn't be imposed by the State at all. Adultery is illegal, and this law has no real purpose; it is not there to protect anyone. It is ...