Civil Obedience

A powerful quote from Howard Zinn. Should we challange our government? Should we march into battle without question? Does our government have our interests at heart?

Submitted 11/08/2006 By Lara Views 2094 Comments 2 Updated 11/08/2006

"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience.

Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war and millions have been killed because of this obedience...

Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity and war, and cruelty.

Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem." - Howard Zinn

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trappleton 01-Sep-2006

Thanks for this, I like this quote a lot. It reminds me of one by Alden Loveshade: "Don't wait for your grandchildren to ask why you watched fundamental freedoms being stripped away and did nothing."

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Josie 28-Aug-2006

Thanks for the quote Lara. It really is powerful and very thought provoking. It paints a grim (and somewhat valid) picture of our world leaders. I think we need more leaders who are willing to lead humanity, not just their countries; more leaders who have a global vision; leaders who are more than just self-motivated power driven; more revolutionaries like Martin Luther King Jnr and Mahatma Ghandi; leaders who perpetuate peace and harmony in our word. On the bright side, we as the young people of the world can be those leaders - creators and changers. We have power, so let's use it to create the world we want!!

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