Thoreau Henry David - Civil disobedience


Author : Thoreau Henry David
Title : Civil disobedience
Year : 1849

Link download : Thoreau_Henry_David_-_Civil_disobedience.zip

I HEARTILY accept the motto, — “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. 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. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure. This American government,— what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves. But it is not the less necessary for this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they have. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. It is excellent, we must all allow. Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way. For government is an expedient by which men would fain succeed in letting one another alone; and, as has been said, when it is most expedient, the governed are most let alone by it. Trade and commerce, if they were not made of India-rubber, would never manage to bounce over the obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way; and, if one were to judge these men wholly by the effects of their actions and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievous persons who put obstructions on the railroads. ...

You might also like

Morris Charles - The aryan race

Author : Morris Charles Title : The aryan race Year : 1888 Link download :...

Continue reading

McKilliam Kenneth Roderick - The annihilation of man

Author : McKilliam Kenneth Roderick Title : The annihilation of man The conspiracy for his...

Continue reading

Adams Ora Ray - As we sodomize America

Author : Adams Ora Ray Title : As we sodomize America The homosexual movement and the decline of...

Continue reading

Lanier Henry Wysham - A book of giants

Author : Lanier Henry Wysham Title : A book of giants Year : 1922 Link download :...

Continue reading

Campbell Howard - Anthropology for the people

Author : Campbell Howard Title : Anthropology for the people A refutation of the theory of the...

Continue reading

Taylor Thomas - The Celtic Christianity of Cornwall

Author : Taylor Thomas Title : The Celtic Christianity of Cornwall Year : 1916 Link download :...

Continue reading

Walter Ted - Beyond misinformation

Author : Walter Ted Title : Beyond misinformation Year : 2015 Link download :...

Continue reading

Vaqué Klaus D. - The plot against South Africa

Author : Vaqué Klaus D. Title : The plot against South Africa Year : 1988 Link download :...

Continue reading

Poole W. H. - Anglo-Israel or the british nation

Author : Poole W. H. Title : Anglo-Israel or the british nation Year : 1879 Link download :...

Continue reading

Bolton Kerry Raymond - Anti-semitism : cui bono ?

Author : Bolton Kerry Raymond Title : Anti-semitism : cui bono ? A report on the symbiosis between...

Continue reading




Balder Ex-Libris
Review of books rare and missing


Balder Ex-Libris