“Civil Disobedience”
Henry David Thoreau
As I was reading this essay, I thought about one of E.B. White’s confusing similes- “Democracy is the sneaking suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.” If White meant this as a positive attribute of democracy, Thoreau would disagree. Thoreau thought that many times the majority is wrong and should not be the basis of laws. Letting the majority make laws does not insure the legitimacy of those laws. Thus, Thoreau believed that when the laws are not consistent with what is right, people should disregard them.
I was interested in this concept at first. After all, God-decreed morals should come before man-made laws. However, people do not hold the same set of morals, and a government where people simply disregarded rules they didn’t agree with would be an anarchy. Although the majority may not always be right, I cannot think of another way to create laws to which most agree. Our form of democracy is flawed, but it is better than the alternatives.
Overall, I think that Henry David Thoreau and I would get along.
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2 comments:
This isn't my first round with "Civil Disobedience." I have faint memories of my first reading of this essay. I don't remember much about the details of this essay. I do remember agreeing with Thoreau. He is one of my favorite poets and I truly enjoyed our section on him during my senior year of high school.
I still get the feeling of concurrence when I read this essay. Just because a large group thinks a law or idea is good, that doesn't make it good. I liked his use of slavery as an example. A large amount of people agreed with it (mostly for monetary gain). Yet, it was still morally wrong. Those who stood up against it, the minority, were correct.
I agree with Megan. There is no better way that keeps the most people happy. It doesn't make our system flawless only a better option than the rest.
My jaw dropped when I read, "There are ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtous man; but it is easier to deal with the real possessor of a thing than with the temporary guardian of it." I can't count how many times I have been guilty of crying, "Injustice...someone do something!" and yet I am lacking the same thing I am advocating. Thoreau's challange hit me hard even though I take it in a different context. His ideas make me want to be a better thinker, as was his intention.
I think that Thoreau's opinions of the government are interesting. Obviously, my perspective is different than his, but I squinted when he goes on those long rants about the corrupted morals our system has. Maybe a look into the things we are doing right would be in order. Freedom. Enslaved freedom, but freedom nonetheless.
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