Response to Obedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem Essay

These are rules rather than orders that most people are given choice whether it is to obey or suffer some sort of consequence, despite not knowing what the consequence are many may choose to obey the order; however the question is, should we obey all orders that are given to us, despite of our moral of ethnical problem with the order that are ordain to us? Regarding this matter of disobedience as being â€Å"a psychological and moral problem† according to the author Eric Fromm, I would like to point out the concept of â€Å"autonomous obedience,† which gives us an opportunity to rely on our â€Å"own powers and to become fully human,† hence gaining our own knowledge, intellect, independence and freedom by being dictate by our very own â€Å"humanistic conscience† that helps and guides us to discern right from wrong and to justify what’s is just and unjust. Just may be the world will be a much better place if we learn to be autonomously obedient based on humanistic discipline, whilst being conscience wise in decision making and being bold enough to face the outcome whether it is good or bad. To be control and govern by â€Å"an institution or men† who rely only upon the power to give vigorous orders and to rule with a vast amount knowledge to intimidate, manipulate and create just and unjust laws to exercise authority and use all sorts of judgment with no ounce of logical thinking. In full grasp of these trademarks one who have not fully grounded in courage and are unsure of their conscience is left with no other choice, but to be submissive and obey, therefore there are no different from a slave who has his rights taken away. Although through the traditional meaning of slavery we know that it is a person who has their rights stripped. A complete obedient person has thus fallen into intellectual slavery. As his rights to question, assess, and evaluate the authority have been consciously or unconsciously taken away, this doesn’t deny the fact that he is in a case of complete and blind submission to the higher authority he submits to intellectual domination. Throughout history there have been a lot of exploitation and abuse of power, especially by those in higher authority, such as the government structure and the constitution, which in some nations creates and pass unjust laws through legislature that clearly violates human and civil rights. To make sure these law are uphold several types of initiative are introduce in the process. The act of negligent brute and â€Å"sheer force† always seem to be the best alternative for these laws, in attempt to secure the system and the infrastructure; anyone who may defy and attempt to cause treason may face with some type of harsh punishment; for example the  controversial Jim Crow laws  where state and local laws in the United States between the year 1876 and 1965 that mandated racial segregation, the separation in practice led to conditions for African Americans that tended to be inferior to those provided for  white Americans systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages. Some examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, public places, and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains for whites and blacks. The U. S. military was also segregated. From the mid 1960s through the end of the decade, more than half a million Blacks participated in rebellions that rocked some 300 American cities. More than 60,000 Blacks were arrested, more than 200 were killed, and tens of billions of dollars worth of property was damaged. Despite of the consequences of these acts, humanistic conscience and stirred emotions drove the blacks to disobey the high authority they were cognizant that their entire life have been jeopardize by this unjust law, in other words they were being treat like rejects from another planet, scorned like a plague, and ordered around like a mule on a saddle, hence the introduction the Civil Right Movement that revolutionize worldwide political movements for equality before the laws. This ruckus could have been impeded if they have had some sort of reasoning, however the government being pompous in there thinking and also claiming â€Å"omniscience and omnipotent† they clearly lose sight on the outcome and they did not prevail over the crisis that t hey single handedly created, moreover; their laws were over thrown and their high authority openly defied, by those who they may label as rebels and not a type of revolutionist since they so called oppose the natural flow cycle  of things. A great instance comes from a recognizable man Nelson Mandela, who stood side by side with his beliefs and humanistic conscience, together with determination and resilience to defy, fight and break â€Å"White Supremacy† and the apartheid system in his home country South Africa where their beliefs that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that whites should have control over people of other races. Though Mandela strove to benefit his people and ultimately society on a whole, he was accused of treason and thrown in prison for 27 year since he opposed the normal flow of interaction between the higher authority and its subordinates. Another fine example was displayed by an officer of the U. S armed forces, Lieutenant Ehren Watada, who refused deployment to Iraq, he created fury with his objection and public condemnation of the war in January 2006. Watada therefore believed his own involvement would be constituted as crimes against peace under command responsibility. He asked to be deployed to Afghanistan, where he felt there was a true moral imperative to defend the United States, his request for his resignation was declined. He was force in court on a double jeopardy trial regarding the accusation of insubordination. Today Watada works at Fort Lewis with the continuous threat of a 6-8 year prison term looming over him for the crime of speaking truth to power. We have the authority and are our own individual, whether we choose â€Å"to say no or to obey,† the power is in our hands and not in the hands of others that control you like a puppet on a string. Blindly obeying authority often results in disobedience to one’s personal morality. Since rules were established and exist for the common interests of the general population, some would say follow the rules and be obedient. However, when rules conflict with people’s morals, one has the right, and furthermore the responsibility to disobey. Contrary to popular belief, disobedience does not center around rebellion. In fact, disobedience is the manner in which people shed enlightenment on the well-traveled journey of intellectual ignorance, by offering another point of view. Nevertheless, if people do not challenge their very surroundings, then they will never discover the true freedom that exist behind the castle gate of control and pressure. Through choosing to disagree, a person is exclaiming the fact that they will not negotiate the most personal aspects of their lives, such as their morals theory and still today they neglect to acknowledge an essential partner in the undisputed credibility of moral decisions. This essential is one’s own conscience. By allowing one’s conscience to govern ideals and decisions, the community as a whole rises to a heightened understanding of its surroundings. As conscious individuals, humans acknowledge the fact that not everyone holds the same opinion, and therefore, not everyone is governed by the same rules. .