It's a Catch-22.
If we allow individuals to disrupt day-to-day government operations, that means we allow one person to impose his values on everyone. Some people have the values of Thomas Jefferson, but others are kindred spirits with Charles Manson. There must be some way to prevent tyranny by the criminally insane or dangerously egotistical.
Want to hunt deer in the middle of the city? Just have your friends stand in the way of the game wardens and city cops. Don't like war? Block the gates of the nearest base. Don't like private property? Stand around in the county land title office. Don't agree with capital punishment? Disrupt a murder case in court.
See where this could become a problem, in a nation filled with as many bored extremists as the USA? Some of them, I might even like. But some I would adamantly disagree with. That's why we are supposed to have a representative government; since we often don't appear to, THAT is where we need to apply our efforts.
I am in favor of civil disobedience, personally, but there are ethics to it. Perhaps I only believe in it as a personal value, like Thoreau. It really works a lot better when a lot of people just disregard intrusive laws, quietly. It works even better when we do our best to avoid paying fines, etc. The 55 MPH speed limit was an example. Widespread and deliberate, even organized, disregard of the law, finally led to its repeal.
If we allow individuals to disrupt day-to-day government operations, that means we allow one person to impose his values on everyone. Some people have the values of Thomas Jefferson, but others are kindred spirits with Charles Manson. There must be some way to prevent tyranny by the criminally insane or dangerously egotistical.
Want to hunt deer in the middle of the city? Just have your friends stand in the way of the game wardens and city cops. Don't like war? Block the gates of the nearest base. Don't like private property? Stand around in the county land title office. Don't agree with capital punishment? Disrupt a murder case in court.
See where this could become a problem, in a nation filled with as many bored extremists as the USA? Some of them, I might even like. But some I would adamantly disagree with. That's why we are supposed to have a representative government; since we often don't appear to, THAT is where we need to apply our efforts.
I am in favor of civil disobedience, personally, but there are ethics to it. Perhaps I only believe in it as a personal value, like Thoreau. It really works a lot better when a lot of people just disregard intrusive laws, quietly. It works even better when we do our best to avoid paying fines, etc. The 55 MPH speed limit was an example. Widespread and deliberate, even organized, disregard of the law, finally led to its repeal.