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Oscar Wilde And Civil Disobedience And Social Progress

995 Words4 Pages
Irish author Oscar Wilde claimed that disobedience is a valuable human trait, and that it promotes social progress; thus, without it, social progress would not be made. Civil disobedience is to social progress as hard work is to academic success. With hard work comes academic success, and with civil disobedience comes social progress. Though some see disobedience as a negative trait, it is what has promoted social progress in history by challenging social standards and requiring new social rules to be made. Civil disobedience challenges social standards by expanding views on the current guidelines. Once one challenges these social standards, others follow suit and will begin to think that the social standards maybe should change. In history, social progress was made by people who pushed the boundaries. This historical civil disobedience is most greatly portrayed by the actions of Rosa Parks. Saying no to giving up her seat to a white man on a bus sparked a revolution and some social rethinking. People decided that if she could stand up for her rights, they could too. Because of this, others followed her lead, began straying from social bus standards, and eventually boycotted buses altogether. These people challenged the social standards, thus leading to a social change. The refusal to follow the guidelines of the society promotes social progress by causing people to have new ideas. This civil disobedience is also often present in literature. Two major examples of this
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