Martin Luther King Jr. and the Philosophy of Civil Disobedience in Research Paper

Martin Luther King Jr. and the Philosophy of Civil Disobedience in Todays World - Research Paper Example Until his assassination in 1968, Dr. King championed civil rights movements and was dedicated to the course of justice and freedom through nonviolent means. There are many ways in which the oppressed deal with their oppression. According Martin Luther king Jr., there are three basic ways through which the oppressed deal with their oppression. These include acquiescence, physical aggression and hatred and nonviolent opposition (Warner and Hilliard 311). When the oppressed resort to use acquiescence, they basically become submissive and acclimatize to oppression, thus becoming accustomed to the oppression (Warner and Hilliard 311). Not all people are willing to break free from oppression. Some individuals usually prefer to stay under oppression. Such people become used to oppressive situations in a way that they give preference to maintaining their slavery status quo than subject themselves to uncertain freedom. People who chose acquiescence as a means of dealing with their oppression are usually engulfed in their suppression that they simply fail to think beyond their current predicament. In such a situation, the oppressed adopts the system of the oppressor and is as wicked as his master. One current example is the case of Syria where Bashar-al-Assad’s administration is tactically scheming to erode the influence of opposition parties and making multitude of Syrians to absolutely depend on the government support and continue living under oppression by the Syrian government. Just like Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledged, no oppressor will ever grow a rational emotion and award his slaves their much desired freedom. As such, this approach is quite immoral and futile way of dealing with oppression. Physical aggression and sheer hatred is the second way through which the oppressed may prefer in dealing with their oppression (Warner and Hilliard 312). Like Martin Luther King Jr. argues, the oppressor is never in a position to grant freedom voluntarily and the o ppressed must demand for it. Violent confrontation of oppressive regime has been used by many nations to win their freedom. For example, in 2011, the rebels in Libya resorted to capture and assassinate Muammar Gaddafi over claims of long time oppression of the Libyan people. Great masses rejoiced from his death because they perceived the execution of Gaddafi as the onset of their freedom. However, violence is not the best way of attaining freedom. It never brings eternal peace, offers no solution to social problems, but only pile many more challenges to the society. Lastly, the oppressed can resort to nonviolent approach to end their repression and achieve their desired freedom (Corlett 32). This approach reconciles acquiescence and physical aggression approaches to obtaining freedom. Nonviolent opposition seeks to find a balance point between the oppressor and the oppressed by eliminating the vices that characterize the current situation and creating friendship between the two (Lon g 104). It consciously seeks to foster equality among all people. For example, in Lebanon, approximately one-quarter of the country’s population convened in Beirut in 2005 to protest the killing of a famous politician and demanded the termination of the oppressive government led by Syria together with withdrawal of Syrian military. This is the best approach because it tackles the challenges of the oppressed and seeks to make things better for them unlike acquiescence and