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Thoreau's resistance to civil government
Thoreau's resistance to civil government
Resistance to government thoreau
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In his work Resistance to Civil Government, Thoreau starts civil defiance with the maxim "that government is best which governs least." He talks of a government that does not intrude into peoples' lives. He even goes ahead to state that maybe a government is best which governs at all. According to him, the government is only a mean of attaining an end as he refers it as an expedient. The existence of it is people who chose it to execute their will. However, he claims that it is susceptible to misuse. Using Mexican war as just an example of how a few people can misuse the government as their personal tool. He argues that the government as an institution does not accomplish what it was formed for but only acts against the will. He also asserts …show more content…
He states that wrong can only be redressed by the people, not the government. However, he counters his message by arguing that people have other higher duties than eradicating government's wrongs calling people not to support the government, but to act with principle and break the law if possible. By this mean together with not paying tax, he asserts that people can achieve abolition. Then, if prison is the result of not paying tax and not giving support to the unjust government, he asserts that there is no shame for prison is the best place for just people in unjust society. Ironically, he argues that paying tax with the current state of government affairs is more bloody and violent while not paying is a peaceable revolution. He, however, states that he does not want to be superior or to quarrel with the government but the laws are not honorable. At the end of the essay, he argues that governments have progressed from absolute monarchy to limited monarchy to democracy but democracy is not enough. He calls for more progress to a point where the government will recognize preeminence of individuals and then people will claim to have a free enlightened
insist on our right of and capacity for being self-governing individuals. But we find ourselves again under the rule of a king - an authority exterior to the self. This time, however, we cannot as easily identify the king and declare our independence." Despite
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
The lawyer and scholar believed that there should be one universal government ruling the people, this government would be a led by a mix of all three classes. He states how a monarchy would be the ideal rule, but is extremely unrealistic as all humans reason equally. By instating a mixed form of government, people would feel more of a connection with the laws and more of a personal responsibility to follow them if they had a part in creating them. Additionally, all people would be seen as equal before the law as all have equal capabilities and through effort, a common good can be achieved; the only thing differentiating humans is their variety of gifts, besides this, there is no variation. A person’s economic status by no means defines their ability to lead, by all groups participating in government, there are no idle citizens that are not a part of the
He talks about three possible ways to fight against oppression. He suggests the nonviolent way as the best option for oppressed in order to resist.
...d goal was a government that was elected and not one that had absolute rule. He makes this evident by saying, " An whole Government of our own Choice, managed by Persons whom We love, revere, and can confide in, has charms in it for which Men will fight" (102). Similarly, Thomas Paine also believes in the idea of a lovable government, " Let the assemblies be annual, with a President only. The representation more equal" (96).
...gining a State at least which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow-men.” This shows that he has hope for what could be in the future. It may not happen soon, but it is possible. Another statement from the text; “A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State, which also I have imagined, but not yet anywhere seen.” This means that for a better state and government there must be a failed and flawed one for a better one to come along. Our civil disobedience is not only a right, but a duty, in opposing injustice.
Thoreau believes that men should have the right to chose what kind of government they would like to be ruled by and that would gain their respect. Thoreau uses both tone and diction not only to explain and express his belief but also to teach us why it is important for every man to make the decision of their own kind of government. Thoreau says, " A standing army is only an arm of of the standing government." This quote is implying that all men are still part of the government whether they claim that they are not part of the government. However, Thoreau also
In “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau claims that men should act from their conscience. Thoreau believed it was the duty of a person to disobey the law if his conscience says that the law is unjust. He believed this even if the law was made by a democratic process. Thoreau wrote that a law is not just, only because the majority votes for it. He wrote, “Can there not be a government in which the majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?” (Thoreau, P. 4). Thoreau wanted a government in the United States that would make the just laws based on conscience, because the people of the country would not let the elected representatives be unfair. Thoreau did not think people can disobey any law when they want to. He believed that people should obey just laws; however, Thoreau thought that not all laws were right, and he wrote that a man must obey what is right, not what is the law: “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right” (Thoreau, P. 4).
Democratic societies are were the people are involved in the decision making of the government and have representation. In Thomas Paine’s Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs, Paine desired for the colonies to go to war against Britain to gain independence, while having the feeling that Britain was exploiting the colonies. Paine explains the disadvantages of the colonies being connected with Britain. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Divinity School Address he brings forth a moral argument. He discusses the relationship between man, soul, God, and the church. In Henry David Thoreau’ On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Henry believes in the act of civil disobedience, in which man does not need the government as much as they think they do. Henry promotes the idea of individuality, in which man could do better than the government in various situations. Thomas Paine, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau, were American writers who generated their own ideas of an ideal American society, where people have involvement with the government or church.
Henry David Thoreau in his essay “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau asserts that men should react from their conscience. Thoreau believed it was the duty of a person to defy the law if his conscience says that the law is unjust. He believed this even if the law was made by a democratic action. Thoreau
...should either live the life of those that they rule, as an equal, or as a superior allow the necessary input of those whom they rule, to decide the best course of action, as is done in a democracy.
...nstead the state consists of rulers who behave like subjects and subjects who behave like rulers. The people begin to desire a strong leader, who will make the difficult decisions for them and bear the consequences: the Democracy has become a Tyranny.
Thoreau claims the government has failed to bring any development in the country. For instance, it has failed in keeping the country free, has not educated the nation or settled the west. But he claims the American citizens are the one who have done what the nation has accomplished. Thoreau states that he calls for at once better government, but not for at once no government. To get an ideal government according to Thoreau, the citizens should be asked what kind of government that commands their
A government that creates laws and imposes extreme punishment to all who disobey those laws is a government that restricts individualism and true freedom. One of the many principals of Transcendentalism is the belief of individualism and personal freedoms. Famous transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau believes that doing what is right rather than legal, is completely justified if the law is morally unjust. A famous quote from Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Resistance to Civil Government” reads “I think that we should be men first and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.
The role of law and government is to ensure that the natural liberties of its people are protected and that the nation-state itself is safeguarded from harm. To guarantee that these objectives are met, a government must possess two principles: to recognize that antithetical dualities exist, and to rule accordingly. It is noteworthy to mention that both principles must be present for a government and its law to be effective. If, by any chance, one is absent, the government and its established laws are useless.