Does Thoreaus Civil Disobedience Have Any Lessons to Teach Us in Todays World?
Henry David Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience in 1849. Although Thoreau’s work in general was underrated at the time, this work in particular became massively influential in the next century. One of Thoreau’s main points is that a government is comprised of the people within that government. It is useless to whine and complain about the government, because that government is you. You have chosen it. It is a government for the people, by the people. Thoreau believed that a government’s primary purpose is to uphold morality and justice for its citizens. If a government is acting unjustly, then it is the fault of the people, and the only course of action is to change it. Thoreau wrote this essay when slavery was a hot issue, and slavery is a prominent theme throughout this work. Thoreau thought that slavery was wrong, and a government which behaved immorally by allowing it was not a government that acted in his best interests. Because of this, he refused to pay taxes as a demonstration of
