RE: Thread for the Analysis of Henry David Thoreau's Writings
July 21, 2019 at 7:56 am
(This post was last modified: July 21, 2019 at 8:35 am by vulcanlogician.)
Plus that, Thoreau's mother did his laundry while he lived at Walden Pond.
Look, I don't romanticize Thoreau like some of his worshippers do. It isn't about his aunt paying his taxes and getting him out of jail. Civil disobedience is a powerful idea that can overcome many injustices in this world. And it can overcome them without shedding a drop of blood or doing violence to a single person. Its potential has yet to be realized.
So what if some of Thoreau's taxes went to supporting good policies? A portion of them went to making sure that certain human beings had to endure lives of forced labor, where they were savagely beaten. Their children were sold at auctions. By paying his taxes, Thoreau was supporting slavery. He addresses this issue in "Civil Disobedience." Maybe you are due for a reread of it. Don't explain to Thoreau how his tax money goes to support "good policies." Don't explain to me how Thoreau's tax money goes to support "good policies." Go explain to the slave who has to work the cotton fields while being lashed with a whip how some of Thoreau's tax money goes to support "good policies." Explain to him how the some of the money that keeps him in servitude does good things too.
And what about the war with Mexico? People fucking died because of that war. They were shot and killed with the support of tax money. Thoreau's criticism of the Mexican war is applicable to most wars. Thoreau pointed out that the Mexican war was not the will of the American people, but rather, the will of a few individuals who stood to profit from it. And yet the American people are really the ones who made it happen through their obedience.
We all like to hate the Nazis. And I certainly don't love them one bit. But the fact is, the holocaust would not have been possible were it not for the obedience of the everyday German people. If they disobeyed, the Holocaust would not have happened...could not have happened. Civil disobedience is a powerful strategy to counter the evils of the world. Thoreau recognized that so much evil would not even be possible if we decided to stop participating in the societies that perpetuated them.
Look, I don't romanticize Thoreau like some of his worshippers do. It isn't about his aunt paying his taxes and getting him out of jail. Civil disobedience is a powerful idea that can overcome many injustices in this world. And it can overcome them without shedding a drop of blood or doing violence to a single person. Its potential has yet to be realized.
So what if some of Thoreau's taxes went to supporting good policies? A portion of them went to making sure that certain human beings had to endure lives of forced labor, where they were savagely beaten. Their children were sold at auctions. By paying his taxes, Thoreau was supporting slavery. He addresses this issue in "Civil Disobedience." Maybe you are due for a reread of it. Don't explain to Thoreau how his tax money goes to support "good policies." Don't explain to me how Thoreau's tax money goes to support "good policies." Go explain to the slave who has to work the cotton fields while being lashed with a whip how some of Thoreau's tax money goes to support "good policies." Explain to him how the some of the money that keeps him in servitude does good things too.
And what about the war with Mexico? People fucking died because of that war. They were shot and killed with the support of tax money. Thoreau's criticism of the Mexican war is applicable to most wars. Thoreau pointed out that the Mexican war was not the will of the American people, but rather, the will of a few individuals who stood to profit from it. And yet the American people are really the ones who made it happen through their obedience.
We all like to hate the Nazis. And I certainly don't love them one bit. But the fact is, the holocaust would not have been possible were it not for the obedience of the everyday German people. If they disobeyed, the Holocaust would not have happened...could not have happened. Civil disobedience is a powerful strategy to counter the evils of the world. Thoreau recognized that so much evil would not even be possible if we decided to stop participating in the societies that perpetuated them.
