Leo Nin
Henry David Thoreau is possibly one of the most intelligent men to put his throughts and ideas on paper. He could most certainly be considered a polymath, which is a person with superior intelligence who excels in a number of different areas. Thoreau was an author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and transcendentalist.
Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” is one of his most famous work which was inspired by his disgust with and hatred for slavery. One of Theoreau’s main points in his essay states that a government that can avoid interfering with everyday life as much as possible is an effective government. Although I agree with Thoreau on this point, it seems a bit unrealistic. As much as we may want the government to interfere as little as possible, we must understand that the law is there primarily to protect those who need protection. Thoreau indicates that this should be the purpose of the law when he says, “But a government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it.” This means that a government in which the majority rule will never be fair or just. This is primarily because the minority is not adequately represented. No matter how small the minority is, it deserves representation so the minority cannot take advantage of it.
Even though Thoreau lived during the mid 1800s, many of his ideas can still be applied today. Although slavery was abolished a long time ago, in part due to the influence of Thoreau, the minority is still often not represented fairly. The first group of people I think of are Native Americans. Native Americans are the smallest minority in the United States, and are often not treated fairly because they have little representation in the government. It seems as though today’s leaders could learn a few things from Thoreau’s ideas.
