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What Is Thoreau's View Of Civil Disobedience

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Thoreau begins Civil Disobedience with the quote "That government is best which governs least," and he says he'd want a government that wouldn't interfere with people's lives. It survives because the people have chosen it to lose their free will, but it is easy to abuse. He says that The Mexican War is an instance of a few people using the government for their own gain. Thoreau says that government as an organization prevents the success of the job that it was created for. The reason it was first created for was to securing individual freedom and independence. Yet, allowing slavery does the exact opposite. He says he simply just wants a better more justified government but not to destroy or completely get rid of it. Using the majority to rule government is …show more content…

Thoreau says that they have a right to revolt. Having said the government as an organization does not do enough good to balance out the evil it performs. The enemies of change, he realizes, are everyday people who support the government. The feeling of resistance to slavery is meaningless and doesn't cause change. Only doing something about your opposition makes a difference to the world around you. Wrongdoing can only be corrected by the individual, not through the tool of government. Still, Thoreau states that a man has better things to be doing than exterminating institutional evil, he cannot be guilty through agreement and compliance. An individual must break the law if needed overlooking the consequences. He says the destruction of government can be accomplished by eliminating support, which can be achieved effectively and realistically through the resisting to pay taxes. If incarceration is the result, there is no embarrassment in it prison can be the best place for a righteous man in an unfair nation. Rebelling creates a "peaceable revolution." Thoreau again pushes a simplistic, self-reliant lifestyle as a way of preserving personal

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