Journal #19 Henry David Thoreau: That's Not My Government!

QUOTE:

“How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government,” (Thoreau 1859).


SUMMARY:

Thoreau is speaking about not wanting to be associated with a government that isn’t doing anything about the problem of slavery. He says that he will not recognize “the slave’s government” as his government.


RESPONSE:

I know in class I started speaking about how this quote relates to the Iraq war today, and was shut down before I started going off on politics in our English class. I know that it really doesn’t make sense to talk about what’s going on right now, but I was responding to someone else’s comment. I’m just going to say my main point, which I should have said in class, because I didn’t have a chance to clarify what I really was trying to point out.

Someone in class was saying how people aren’t allowed to speak out against the government now (in the same way Thoreau is). I just wanted to say that if people ever speak out against the government (the Bush Administration) and the whole war situation, they are accused of not supporting the troops in Iraq. In Thoreau’s time, I don’t think that people thought of his stance on the Mexican war in the same way at all. I think the government in Thoreau’s time was still open to changes, whereas now the United States government isn’t about to change a thing.

So what can radicals get away with now? I think that now the government has so many ways of monitoring people who have been identified as extremists, radicals have to be much more inconspicuous. If someone published a book about civil disobedience this year, I think it is quite possible that they would be flagged as a potential terrorist.