Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Is rebellion justifyable? Comment on: rebellion is a great crime--unless it succeeds

Is it justifyable for the people to take mob action against lawful measures that they deem harmful or illegal?

Yes, because if a lot of people is against it, then the lawful measures aren't going to work very well anyways. Also, the lawful measures probably are harmful if many people disagree with it, because they are in some way affected negatively by it; that's the reason why they don't like it.

Comment critically on the following proposition in light of the American Revolution: rebellion is a great crime--unless it succeeds

The rebellion of the Americans can be viewed either as treason or a brave attempt at justice, depending on how you define America. If you define colonial America as a part of Britain, and that there are still strong ties between them, then rebellion would be treason. However, if you view America as a different and separate nation, just controlled by another, then it would be a brave attempt at justice. Since Britain was basically exploiting the colonies for revenue, the American people had good reason to rebel; therefore there were weak ties between mother and daughter country, which leads to the conclusion that the rebellion wasn't a crime but rather justifyable.

1 comment:

George Wilde said...

I don't see why you couldn't view the American revolution as BOTH a striving measure for justice and treason. Treason is defined by the government in control, and if the government is unjust, then wouldn't treason be just? I just don't think the two are mutually exclusive.