Journal #18 Henry David Thoreau: Down With Taxes!

QUOTE:

“Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, - ‘That government is best which governs not at all;’ and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have” (Thoreau 1857).


SUMMARY:

At the beginning of Resistance to Civil Government, Thoreau sums up his position on government. Unhappy with the Mexican war and slavery, Thoreau explains why civil disobedience is necessary.


RESPONSE:

I can see how different political parties and people with different statuses in the social strata love Thoreau because of this statement alone. I see at least two different ways to view it, but I’m going to discuss this quote from the viewpoint of the wealthy. I think in a capitalist society, the people who are well off don’t want to see a powerful system of government that can control what they do. I also think that the issue of taxes is one of the main ways the government has some control.

When it comes to taxes, of course the people with more money don’t want to have to pay them; and I think that may be because the attitude of the wealthy is more selfish, in a way? If richer people feel like they never use the public services their tax dollars pay for (possibly excluding police and fire fighters), maybe they think that their money isn’t really helping them personally. They may not agree with their tax dollars helping anyone who is an illegal alien either. I’m not saying that all rich people think like this, but I’m sure there are many who do.

There are, of course, philanthropists who generously circulate their money back out into the world, hoping to put it to good use. However, those are usually people who feel like they should do something with their money to help less fortunate people, instead of (in a cartoon-like description) keeping their money locked up in a huge vault with cobwebs collecting dust. These are the people who may also realize that they barely pay any taxes; who feel some sort of conscience when they see the less fortunate struggling to live a somewhat happy life. However, in Thoreau’s opinion, even the people deemed “philanthropists” are only giving partially to their cause.