A well-founded government is one that has the consent of the people it governs. This system is used to protect its population and provide them with the necessities to thrive. But many individuals believe that in most cases the government should not interfere in economic and political affairs. This type of government is known as active government and can be called “big government”. Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and political anarchist Emma Goldman advocate for the public's right to break unjust laws that the government maintains. Although some are more radical than others, each thinker evaluates their idea differently. Thoreau and King both believe that the best way to eliminate an unjust law is to carry out acts of civil disobedience. Goldman, on the other hand, believes in the complete annihilation of government, thus transforming it into a state of anarchism. All three thinkers made it clear in their arguments that breaking an unjust law is justified. In his essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau begins by saying, “Government is best that governs least” (Thoreau 98). Thoreau clearly states that he is not an anarchist and does not believe that government should be abolished. Rather, he believes we have a right to better government based on morality and justice. Thoreau explores the idea of ​​civil disobedience and challenges the role of government by describing his own incarceration for refusing to pay taxes during the Mexican-American War to expand slavery. When the government ceases to act morally, Thoreau argues that it is up to the individual to disobey and withdraw from the government. Thoreau... middle of paper... ldman presents important arguments against unjust laws and how they affect society as a whole. But the reality is that getting rid of the government and carrying out acts of civil disobedience alone are not enough to eliminate injustice. It's about us coming together and fighting together for a cause. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. best argues that individuals have a moral duty to disobey unjust laws that go against the moral laws of God. Many individuals have disobeyed unjust laws because they felt it was within their moral integrity to do so. In Sophocles' tragic play Antigone, the main protagonist buries the body of her brother Polyneices, disobeying Creon's slowness to let his corpse rot and be eaten by vultures. Knowing the consequences, Antigone accepted her faith anyway. Individuals disobey laws on the grounds that a higher moral law may be at risk.