Reference no: EM133262763

Could you please review what I have written down about this civil disobedience problem and let me know what you think of my over all report. Please let me know if it makes sense or if I need to add anything else to it!

Description of event 

On July 8, 2019,  Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate or RickyLeakschats were leaked of Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rosselló, demonstrating corrupt and inappropriate behavior, on August 2, 2019, he resigned after multiple protests related to the scandal.

Analysis of event 

After many pages of private chats between Roselló, some of his present cabinet officials, and close associates were leaked to the Puerto Rican public. The leaked conversations contained profane, misogynistic, and homophobic comments against public officials, famous people, and ordinary citizens, as well as mockery regarding the deaths after Hurricane Maria in 2017. Corrupt activity has always been present in Puerto Rican politics. The Puerto Rican people got exhausted by this behavior, resulting in more than half a million people paralyzing the metropolitan area in San Juan, asking for the government's resignment. This scandal is an example of Throes' idea that "voting is not enough" because "even voting for the right thing is doing nothing for it" he says we "adopted one of the candidates thus selected by others as the only available one." Using Thoreau's critical points of the agent of injustice and counter fiction to the machine are demonstrated here. The half million citizens that marched the streets of San Juan acting against the state believed they were serving the state with their conscience. They had fallen into their unjust sociopolitical situation. Thoreau, in this case, would argue that if the government is corrupt, then that forces the Puerto Ricans to be the agent of injustice and, therefore, should protest. They are letting life be a counter friction to stop the machine. The multiple protests that paralyzed the Islands socioeconomic stance represents the friction that was being used in order to cease  the machine.  We see how they were able to jump over the wall of consciousness and are now acting upon the government. Thoreau would argue that Ricardo Roselló was injustice for being misleading, corrupt, and self-interested throughout his term. However, he would also say, "when the subject has refused their allegiance, and the officer has resigned his commission, then the revolution is accomplished." Therefore, the revolution was successful, and civil disobedience proved effective. The ability to persuade Ricardo Roselló to resign ideally represents what Thoreau is trying to teach us.

Refutation of the Analysis

While it is evident that the actions of the Puerto Rican protesters can be seen as a successful example of civil disobedience, it is crucial to consider the potential drawbacks of the approach as well. First, Civil disobedience can lead to violence and property damage. Both of these things occurred throughout the protestors. A plethora of vandalism was left throughout the walls of Old San Juan, as well as multiple citizens were injured from gas bombs and violent encounters with police officers. These situations can cause further division and resentment among the people and make achieving the protesters' goals more challenging. At the same time, the socio-economical environment was paralyzed throughout the island. Many employees missed work with multiple roads closed and thousands of civilians protesting. Hence, the protest impacted Puerto Rico's economy negatively. A lot of businesses were unable to open due to the lack of personal additionally some places were completely blocked and inaccessible because of the protestors. Civil disobedience can also lead to arrest and imprisonment, disrupting the lives of the protesters and their families. A lot of individuals started getting violent with the Policemen guarding the capitol building and this resulted in civilian detention and civil violence.The protest further fuels the problems seen between civilians and police officers. The Police officers who had to protect the government were seen as villains in the Puerto Rican eyes. Therefore this created a lot of tension. Also, one could argue that the behavior of civil disobedience can also give the government a pretext to crack down on dissent, which can lead to further human rights abuses. It could be argued that through less disruptive methods Puerto Rican people could've accomplished Ricardo Rosellós reassignment.  

Evaluation

As a Puerto Rican, I believe that civil disobedience was the correct thing to do in this case. The Puerto Rican government has ruled a currupt and self-interested reign for centuries. They are using citizens' money for their personal agenda and somehow managing to make the public debt bigger. The people of Puerto Rico are tired of living in such an unfair community; therefore, it was time to end this silent dictatorship. The people of Puerto Rico felt responsible for Roselló's incompetence since they were the ones that appointed him to power. With the government's history, it was evident that without civil disobedience, nothing was going to change. Counter friction to stop the machine was a popular thought among all Puerto Ricans. The immense participation throughout the multiple protests shows the need to push for justice and demonstrates evident dissatisfaction with the current governor. Puerto Ricans knew that only with action would they accomplish Roselló's resignment. The resignment of the governor reflects the need for reformation in Puerto Ricos' political hierarchy. The island's citizens all together finally jumped the "wall of consciousness" and realized the injustice of the current governor. The government realized that the citizens were starting to jump the "conscious wall." however they didn't anticipate the number of people who were going to wake up from their enchantment. This Protest always had the intention of being a peaceful diplomatic event. However, it sometimes didn't result in this. I am opposed to using violence to express anger, but authorities need to develop measures to avoid cases where violent protests are the only way of pushing for justice. And in the case where violent protests seem to be the only option for the public, the government must reflect and realize the people's actions mirror their ruling.