The Citizen On The Rainy River Essay

On September 17, 1787 framers in Philadelphia signed “The Constitution of the United States in which it was approved on June 21, 1788 by the ninth state. Once confirmed, along with the addition to the Bill of Rights it developed a mutual standard by which Americans determined the responsibilities and limits of their government. Looking to the Constitution to decide political discrepancies has helped to substitute and preserve a general agreement among people that are otherwise diverse. The Constitution, although two centuries of complications and trials of the American experiment in self-government, is a testament to the cleverness and anticipation of its framers.

In the United States of America, individuals have always taken it upon themselves to write the wrong that they witness in society. This can be portrayed in both Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, and Henry David Thoreau Civil Disobedience. Throughout history, as the times have changed so has individuals perception on government. Both authors existed at a different time in history, but they both convey a similar message that citizens should disobey government- but their idea of government is completely different.\

I am here by writing this essay to explain, how these organizations in the United States such as the MADD, LULAC, and NAACP can educate and help our fellow citizens of America change laws that might well need to be changed. As well as explaining the common interest these groups are concerned with.

Each type of government holds different views as to the role the leaders and citizens should perform in their country .Different types of government include, oligarchy where the government is run by the best leaders, Tyranny, where they believe those in power should have complete control over its people. In the United States of America, we believe in democracy, rule by the majority. The main problem with our type of government is maintaining it. Our government and its citizens have lost sight of their roles and responsibilities, in government.

After spending a night in jail, after nonpayment of Massachusetts poll tax, Thoreau wrote his essay “Civil Disobedience”. He states that governments are mostly “inexpedient” (1577), or not practical. At best, Thoreau pushed the idea that the government isn’t useful because it is not our own. He writes “What makes this duty the more urgent is the fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army” (1580). Americans listen to the rules established by the government, but it is not necessary, because the government is just the majority of people with whom are living off a different countries rules. The reason the government is even there, is because it gives the citizens some type of stable structure to live by. Thoreau feels that the government is unjust and the citizens of America should not follow rules. He feels like a reform is in need; “It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous, wrong” and “not to give it practically his support” (1582). Thoreau and Emerson both push for social reform of the individual. Emerson wants the individual to be reliant on themselves, and not fall into the conformity of the American society. Thoreau, also teaches the individual to think different then the governmental established rules. Both authors want the readers to trust themselves, before they trust the

The Native vote, and Native political status could play key roles such as large “tribe votes” having many people vote for one candidate in the 2016 election. Thusly the Natives should not be disregarded in the election

He compares the government to a machine and says that if the machine “…requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine.” Standing against what he considers to be unjust acts of the government, slavery and war, he protests in a way that is according to his point of view. I see a correspondence between Thoreau’s call for independence of thought to the call that the colonies did for independence from a King that was unjust to them. Moreover, the title itself Civil Disobedience, is a straightforward appeal to behave this way. I am a true believer in democracy as the best system to grant a voice to most people, however, like Thoreau, I believe that one cannot support a government that acts against what is right, he says “ Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” Thoreau notes that democracy may not be the final stage in the process, and at the end of the essay he emphasises that there will never be a "really free and enlightened State" until the state recognizes the pre-eminence of the

The American democracy is one of the most peaceful kinds of government in the world although it is a long way from utopia. The democracy in which we live has many strengths and weaknesses. Neither strengths or weaknesses out weigh one another, but it is necessary to have both due to the varying definitions. A democracy is a government that is run by the people. The politicians that we elect to run our government are human and they are susceptible to mistakes based on their own strengths and weaknesses. The strengths and weaknesses they possess are reflected into our government but at least “we the people” elect them and they are not chosen for us.

Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King, in “Civil Disobedience” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” respectively, both conjure a definitive argument on the rights of insubordination during specified epochs of societal injustice. Thoreau, in his enduring contemplation of life and its purpose, insightfully analyzes the conflicting relationship between the government and the people it governs. He considerately evokes the notion that the majority of people are restrained by the government and society from making decisions with consideration of their conscience and that people need to overcome the reign of the government to realize their own

In his expository essay Resistance to Civil Government, Henry Thoreau compares men serving in the armed forces of The United States to wooden statues and he discusses how the government has manipulated and used their men. Throughout the course of Thoreau’s essay, he challenges his reader to look beyond the superficial aspect of their country and address the issues that often go unnoticed. Thoreau dares readers to respond boldly to topics and decisions that they might consider unfair or unjust. Prompted by an instance in which he stood up for a tax that he thought was unjust, Thoreau writes a provoking, almost taunting essay in which he describes some of the abuses that the government has forced on its people.

Henry David Thoreau, an American essayist, philosopher, and historian around the 1800s, composed “Civil Disobedience” to uncover the rapid downfall of the American Government. Thoreau highlights “That Government does best when it does not govern at all”; and when the men are most ready for It, that will be the type of Government they will have, a Government-free one (Thoreau 1). Thoreau expresses his bravery in his writing to bear his nationalistic attitude, showing his hostility towards the American Government during that time; he asserts that the Government, in it’s present state is sinister and corrupted because the Government favors slavery and the Mexican war. Throughout his explanations, Thoreau argues that the American citizens should take complete control by being the true leaders of the government and not allow the Government to rescind or decay their consciences. To grab the reader’s attention and to lead them to a new kind of nationalism and it’s circumstance, Thoreau exquisitely makes use of the rhetorical elements of ethos, logos, and pathos.

The United States has a deeply rooted and embedded tradition through the Constitution of having a federalist style of governing as its structural framework for operating and guiding the government of the country. The form of governing is best described as a balance between powers of the central government and the powers of each independent and autonomic state. “Federalism is a system in which the power to govern is shared between national and provincial (state) governments, creating what is often called a federation” (Wikipedia 1).This style of governance has not been the only structure instituted in American history in order to implement civilized law and order among the people of the land. Prior to the

Since the middle ages, corporatism has taken a leading role in countries by involving different organizations into a group of people to develop cooperative associations on the basis of shared interests. In Europe, corporatism was the main objective of people in a country. For example, Lewis Mumford note that the basic society "was based on classes and ranks" and there was no guaranteeing demand through security and no power that did not recognize the legal obligations of a corporate profile (Mumford). Once democracy began to spread and become definite in the United States, the Americans began to experiment with new ideas and values. In America, corporatism began to evolve into a new system where the knowing of freedom and justice was

Public Citizen is a non-profit and consumer rights advocacy group. Their mission is to ensure that all citizens are represented in the levels of government power. Since 1971, the organization has have successfully challenged the abusive practices of the pharmaceutical, nuclear and automobile industries. Public Citizen has five policy groups: Congress Watch division, the Energy Program, Global Trade Watch, the Health Research Group and our Litigation Group. According to the Public Citizen website, the organization does not participate in partisan political activities or endorse any candidates for elected office. Public Citizen does not accept government or corporate money and they solely rely on foundation grants, publication sales and assistance

Thomas Jefferson once wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Today, this quote stands tall in defining and describing the type of government the United States has created for the people. A democracy is a supreme power