“I heartily accept the motto, “That
government is best which governs least” (Thoreau, n.d.). The opening line from
Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience is bold. Throughout the essay Thoreau
attacks many aspects of our government. Originally published in 1949, his work
focused on different issues than we face today as a country. However, his brilliant
ideas about small government still hold true.
Henry David
Thoreau obviously lived in a different era of U.S. government. When he
published his essay, the key issues he focused on were slavery and the war in
Mexico (Article Myriad, n. d.).
He was adamantly against the war and did
not support slavery. However his paper does not focus on why slavery was wrong.
Instead he calls out to the American people to help change the country (The
Transcendentalists, n. d.). He states that having the opinion that slavery is
wrong is not enough. Thoreau calls for the U.S. citizens to stop supporting
their government through taxes, even at the risk of incarceration. In his
essay, he describes his own arrest for refusing to pay a poll tax. However he
only spent one night imprisoned before “someone interfered” and paid his tax
for him. He asserts that “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the
true place for a just man is also a prison.” (Thoreau, n.d.). Personally I would rather put up with the
unjust laws than be imprisoned, and I think most people feel the same. Thoreau’s
concept of refusing to support the state is an interesting one, but I do not
think enough people would follow through with it for it to be successful. Even
though his essay focused on the present day issues of 1849, it still has
significant relevance in today’s United States.
Small
government is a concept that has been around a long time. When the U.S.
constitution was written, the federal government had much less power than it
does today. Since 1776, our government has slowly gained more power and put
more restrictions on our freedom. Thoreau recognized this threat early on
(Bookstove, n. d.). His quote on government is spot on about our nation’s
issues today. In my opinion, most of the problems our country face today were
created by our large government mentality. One issue our country faces that his quote
relates to is the drug war. Our country
has unjust drug laws which imprison people who need to be in treatment centers.
Legalizing certain drugs would not only stimulate our poor economy with taxes,
but we would save billions by not imprisoning people for minor drug charges.
These people should not have their freedoms stripped anyways; it is unjust and
in my opinion should not be tolerated. Another way large government is hurting
our country is through spending massive amounts on hundreds of useless
government agencies. Thoreau’s concept of less government could help our
country in so many ways.
Before
going into politics, one should be required to study Civil Disobedience. Our government today is made up of career
politicians, which is something our forefathers warned of, and Thoreau mentions
this in his essay (Study Guides &
Essay Editing, n. d.). If politicians are paid large amounts of money to
represent their people, is it not possible that at least some of them are more
interested in the money than in the issues? Our country is in massive debt, and
we attempt to eliminate this with more spending. We will never be able to overcome
our issues with the ridiculous amount of government we have. Thoreau was right
in 1849, and he remains right today. If our government reduced taxes, removed
regulations, dramatically reduced spending and government programs, and did
away with unjust laws, the private sector and economy would greatly improve.
The solution to our problems is no secret. It is simply a forgotten truth. Civil Disobedience is a brilliant work,
and will always remain relevant to any government the world will ever see.
When Thoreau
originally wrote his essay, he was focused on things that are not significant
to our world. However his small government quote and many ideas found
throughout the essay will always be important. Thoreau was almost like a
foreshadowing of the Libertarian party, an idealist before the movement even
began. Hopefully his small government ideas eventually catch on, and our
country becomes a better, freer place.
References
"Analysis and Summary of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau." Article Myriad.
N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.articlemyriad.com/analysis-summary-civil-disobedience/>.
"Analysis of Civil Disobedience; By Henry David
Thoreau." Bookstove RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
<http://bookstove.com/non-fiction/analysis-of-civil-disobedience-by-henry-david-thoreau/>.
"Civil Disobedience Summary." Study Guides
& Essay Editing. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.gradesaver.com/civil-disobedience/study-guide/short-summary/>.
Thoreau, Henry D. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with
Annotated Text." Thoreau's Civil Disobedience. N.p., n.d. Web. 19
Nov. 2012. <http://thoreau.eserver.org/civil.html>
"The Transcendentalists." The
Transcendentalists. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.transcendentalists.com/>.
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