Civil Disobedience In Henry David Thoreau's '

Civil Disobedience History books are made based upon the stories of failing civilizations caused by failing governments that failed to rule successfully. Whether it be the Roman Empire, French and Spanish monarchs, or Chinese Dynasties, each of them collapsed due to a corrupt and inept government. Thoreau’s statement “we should be men first and subjects afterward” is what he claims to be the solution to this repeating problem. Being a man in Thoreau’s terms means challenging the majority and what they say is right, disobey the government when it is unjust, and, most importantly, rule their lives instead of conforming to the government’s rules and standards, a society could last. If a person were to live by Thoreau’s quote to be a person before a citizen of the government, it makes it possible to have an almost perfect system, the type of government in which America was founded upon; one that is truly controlled by the people and is most effective in making the right decisions, but there comes a point where the government …show more content…
The minority can sometimes view the situation from another angle such as the homeless living on the streets today. The mass of people living today own a house, have a job, make money, and can put food on the table, so how can they see what is going on underneath the pretty houses and flowing money? The majority can often be blinded by what they have and forget to look around them at the people with opposite views. During the life of Jesus, nearly the entire Roman Empire and Middle East agreed that the self acclaimed prophet is a fake and is endangering both their leaders’ power and religion. As a result, the majority made the decision to crucify Jesus without listening to his small group of followers. In the end, it was proven that the larger part of the empire had made a terrible