The students are revolting at UT Austin. To which I say, “No shit, that’s all part of the long hair and outlandish dress, thing .”
They call their act civil disobedience. Here is a photo of student civil disobedience. Let’s back up a bit and define some terms.
Here are two that come to mind, Civility and Civil disobedience.
ci·vil·i·ty
[səˈvilədē]
noun
Oxford Languages
- formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech:”I hope we can treat each other with civility and respect”
civ·il dis·o·be·di·ence
[ˈsivil ˌdisəˈbēdēəns]
noun
Oxford Languages
- the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest.
I took it a step further. Henry David Thoreau is credited with coining the phrase civil disobedience. Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax in Concord, Massachusetts. He didn’t pay it for four years before anybody noticed or cared. Thoreau can’t be accused of having an original idea. His friend and neighbor Amos Bronson Alcott, (Louisa May Alcott’s daddy) had already been there, done that and claimed the t-shirt three years earlier.
At any rate, Sheriff Sam Staples arrested Thoreau as he walked into the town of Concord. There is no indication that Staples had to carry Thoreau to jail. Unlike modern protestors, Thoreau was not heard to scream or shout MOTHERFUCKER during the event. He did not spit.
Thoreau hadn’t hardly warmed a bunk in his jail cell when a woman, possibly his aunt, arrived to go his bail. Then he got pissed, she spoiled the whole protest thing. One can’t be a prisoner standing outside the jail. As a consolation prize, Sheriff Staples kept Thoreau overnight. I’m not sure but I think Arlo Guthrie reprised the whole Thoreau jail bit in the song and movie of the same name, “Alice’s Restaurant.”
There is a PS to the whole Thoreau saga. Thoreau refused to pay the poll tax because he thought that the funds would be used to fund the Mexican American war. He was wrong. The tax was purely local and no money was allocated to state or federal coffers. This may be the takeaway that has survived 180 plus years. There is no civility in protests and likewise civil disobedience. What has held true, over the years from Thoreau until today is: “facts don’t matter, it’s all about feelings.”
I could leave things right now, but I won’t. Here is a link to a legendary protest from the 70’s held at SWTSU.
