Failure to obey: I Diagnose therefore I Protest? When a person is sick, a doctor first needs to diagnose the symptoms to be able to understand the causes of the illness and adequately treat, manage or eradicate the disease. For instance, a doctor cannot arrive at a diagnosis of a patient and say to the patient " you have diabetes" without analyzing the symptoms and explaining how a disease developed, and what lifestyle habits favor the development of its presence. Upon reading the first paragraph of Thoreau's lecture, the idea of diagnosing resonated. Not only Thoreau gave a diagnosis of a failed government but also analyses the how's and why's the government became to be a nonsuitable institution. In Thoreau's opinion, "The government itself [...]" and " the people [...]" that trust in this institution, are " [...] perverted" ( Thoreau, 3). In other words, the relationship between government and citizens mirror each other and create the problem. What does this mean? What is Thoreau telling us? Is it not the government who force upon its citizen its laws and rules, for its "own advantage"? So, Why is Thoreau saying that its citizens are, as well as responsible and accountable for the existence of an inexpedient government? Indeed, …show more content…
I couldn't help to think of the current situation on immigration and the military. I served eight years in the military at the very beginning of the war with Iraq. As I look back, and I position myself to the present, I find myself wrestling with mixed feeling and sadness. If I were still in the military, how would I feel to have to obey the Commander in Chief and go to fight an unjust battle? Being a soldier means then follow, and normalize the wrong. Being a soldier means to march without considering moral and ethics, unable to feel? Would I choose to disobey and go to
Without any government intervention, the state would be in shambles with no regulations on food, drugs, or the workforce. As for government based on conscience, Thoreau’s argument falls flat when he fails to recognize that majority rule is the only fair rule. Thoreau needed to learn that when friction takes over a machine, the machine is to be fixed, not thrown away. Evidently, Henry David Thoreau’s argument against organized government in America is much too flawed to be
Thoreau is targeting all of the American citizens with this essay. He is making a statement to them and trying to convince them that as a whole we need to make a stand against the American government. Thoreau is attempting to demonstrate his self-reliance against the government. He upholds his specific principles and encouraged nonaggressive acts of political resistance to protest government policy. An example of his resistance is when he states “that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave's government also”. The two major issues occurring during the writing of this essay were the Mexican-American war and slavery. During this time period many northerners began to push against slavery causing a divide in the American society. The Mexican-American War ...
...for him to do). Instead Thoreau believes that as unjust and imperfect as democracy is at that particular time, he looks to better times, a time when legislators have more wisdom and integrity and hold humanity in a higher regard. He recognizes that fairness exists in the hearts and minds of individuals, some whom he knows personally and he holds to a hope that men like these can and will transform what is in their conscience into a “state at last which can afford to be just to all men and to treat the individual with respect…”
When it comes to civil rights, there are two pieces of literature commonly discussed. One of these pieces is Henry David Thoreau’s persuasive lecture On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. In this work, Thoreau discusses how one must combat the government with disobedience of unjust laws and positive friction to create change. The second piece is the commonly known article Letter From a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. This letter covers the ways in which peaceful protest and standing up against injustice can lead to positive results. Both pieces conveyed a similar message of standing up for what is right. The strongest rhetorical methods which Thoreau uses are allusions, logos, ethos and rhetorical questions. However, King’s use of
An American Author, Transcendentalist and tax resister, Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord Massachusetts, and lived there most of his life. He was opposed to many of the things that went on in our society and debated many issues in his life. Two of these major issues are , the Mexican American War and the implement of Slavery in our society. This was the reason for many of his writings include “Slavery in Massachusetts” and “Civil Disobedience” where he wrote about his principles and views against the U.S government and their involvement in the Mexican American War and the evil of Slavery. Thoreau opposed to these because they promote unjust government practices which he was strongly against.
In this short story Thoreau plays the protagonist as well as a pacifist. He continually reiterates his beliefs of law and conscience. Thoreau believes we have a conscience to determine right and wrong and views the government, at a state level at least, as useless. He gives the reader several examples of things the government does that would be against most conscious decisions. Such as: The listing of accomplishments the “government” made possible, included in this list is the repetition of the word “It” referring to the government. “It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished”(221).
Glick, Wendell, ed. "Resistance to Civil Government." The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau: Reform Papers. Princeton University Press, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. .
Thoreau regards civil disobedience as duty of his fellow countrymen in order for them to be moral, upstanding Americans. Particularly in the...
Our modern day political obligations are part of countless examples in which our priority should be to what our government thinks is right, not what we think is right. Noone is ever excited about Jury duty, opening their mailbox one day and finding that their presence in court is mandatory is not exhilarating. Although for some its against their own wishes the obligations they have to the government to help decide the faith of another citizen is part of their civil duty as a citizen of the United States. Thoreau’s belief that we should prioritize what we think is right over what the government thinks is right is proven false under this example in our modern day lives. We owe to our government our presence to help give our opinions in the court of law. If we did not follow our political obligations and support the government then why would they protect us if we do not help to support ourselves. We may think that our presence is unnecessary, and otherwise think that our daily activities are more important but the amount of people it affects is less substantial than our presence in court, otherwise making what we think is right less of a priority then what the government thinks is right.
In Henry Thoreau’s essay, Resistance to Civil Government, the harmless actions he takes to rebel against the government are considered acts of civil disobedience. He talks about how the government acts wrongful such as, slavery and the Mexican-American war. This writing persuades Nathaniel Heatwole, a twenty-year-old college student studying at Guildford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, to take matters into his own hands, by smuggling illegal items on multiple Southwest airplanes. The reason in that being, is to show the people that our nation is unsafe and dangerous. In doing this, he takes his rebellion one step too far, by not only jeopardizing his life, but as well as many other innocent lives.
Thoreau espouses that the democratic party listens to and answers the majority, which are the desires of the most powerful group. The problem with this is that the most virtuous or thoughtful group is left aside because the government only pays attention to what the strongest group says. A government functioning on this principle cannot be based on justice, because the ideas of what is right and wrong is decided by the majority, not by conscience. Thoreau writes, "Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward. (p.178 para. 4)" He claims that it is more important for people to develop a respect for the right, instead of having a respect for the law, for it is people’s duty to do what is right.
Henry David Thoreau argues “That government is best which governs least…That government is best which governs not at all” (1) as the first statement in his essay Civil Disobedience. They have thoroughly stated Thoreau’s attitude towards the idea of government and he later expresses more in the essay. Thoreau is a prominent American poet, philosopher, essayist, and lifelong abolitionist during the 19th century. As the supporter of Transcendentalism movement, he publishes many works to protest against the general state of intellectualism and spirituality at that time. His essay Civil Disobedience is one of his famous works to stand up for the ideas of prioritizing people’s conscience and ability of thinking before the policies of government, denouncing the corrupted United States government, and criticizing American social institutions and
In “Resistance to Civil Government,” Thoreau articulates the importance he places on resistance against a powerful, controlling government. He opens his essay with a reference to the...
When thinking about the transcendental period and/or about individuals reaching out and submerging themselves in nature, Henry David Thoreau and his book, Walden, are the first things that come to mind. Unknown to many, there are plenty of people who have braved the environment and called it their home during the past twenty years, for example: Chris McCandless and Richard Proenneke. Before diving into who the “modern Thoreaus” are, one must venture back and explore the footprint created by Henry Thoreau.
In "Civil Disobedience," Thoreau criticizes the American government for its democratic nature, namely, the idea of majority ruling. Like earlier transcendentalists, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau believes in the importance of the individual. In a society where there are many individuals with conflicting perceptions and beliefs, Emerson chooses passivity and isolation to avoid conflict with others. However, unlike Emerson, Thoreau rejects passivity and challenges his readers to stand up against the government that focuses on majorities over individuals. Thoreau argues that when power is in the hands of the people, the majority rules, "not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest" (Thoreau 64). Thoreau portrays this very fundamental element of democracy, w...