The points made throughout the article On the Duty of Civil Disobedience were mostly relevant in today’s society, but in many some other ways were outdated and irrelevant. The author states in the first paragraph “let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect and that will be one step closer to obtaining it” First this statement directly leaves out women, insisting that women are irrelevant to this situation. However, it also flaunts the idea that every man should have their own government. That alone would breakout wars within our own country and let the terrible people in this world get away with their terrible things. Personally, that is an awful and terrible idea, it would create complete anarchy. While the government can be terrible and make awful choices in regarding human rights, laws are put in place to help us. At least the majority of the time they help us.
Someone in the class made a comment about how “nobody made you where seat belts in your horses and buggies”. While that statement is correct seatbelts save thousands of lives each day. In this particular situation the government is helping us, in fact they are saving out lives. Where you can see the other side of the argument, with gay marriage being illegal and slavery being legal. In those cases, the government was being absolutely brutal. The government had no right to dictate that right. Another quote I found interesting was in the third paragraph. But voting doesn’t really change that, since the electoral college is still in the picture. The electoral college gets in the way of the peoples vote. If the people don’t persuade the electoral college into voting for them, instead of what they want, the people are screwed. “the mass of men serves the state thus, not as men mainly but as machines, with their bodies”. The author is stating that men are forced to go out into the field through war drafts, and they act as a “machine” that is controlled by someone of a higher authority. Serving in the military back in this day was almost like a rite of passage. Most of the time it was socially unacceptable for a young man not to join the military. The authors talk about how men in the military are treated like horses and dogs, while serving for our country and risking their lives. Henry also makes a point that men serving our country in a different way, think with their heads, like a lawyer, politician, etc. Men in the military are treated poorly and think with their bodies, they are commanded to do things that they necessarily might not want to do. Lawyer and politicians think with their heads they strategize over what to do and how to fix a situation and a treated almost like a god. The people in the military are people who have good morals, they have a purpose to serve and risk their lives.
The other higher looked at government officials often have terrible morals, they don’t really care about the well-being of most people they just want to bring in a good amount of money for their families and themselves. They are often seen involved with scandals and accused of raping women, why would you want someone so disgusting running your country. In reality the world has evolved greatly since this article was written. However, there is a lot of change that needs to be done. Henry persuades the readers into believing that it truly only takes one person to make a change, once one brave person stands up for what they believe in, it’s not long for a group to follow them. He makes very valid points when it comes to persuading people that when the change becomes a trend is when the world will truly evolve into a better place. The article overall is very persuasive, and the author gets a good idea across the table.
Henry Thoreau starts his essay by a stating ‘That government is best which governs least,'(par1) announcing to the reader what he believes works best. Henry talks in favor of a government that doesn’t intervene with every single persons life. Henry thinks that the government is only picked by the majority of people to obtain specific needs. According to Henry, this was created to ensure that one’s individual’s freedom was not stripped from them. Often this is not used correctly. Henry was very persuasive in this way, he talks a lot about the Mexican American war and slavery to prove his point. Henry persuades the readers into believing that the government is the biggest obstacle in the way of letting America become a government of self. Later in the article, Henry makes it very understanding to the readers that he is not in favor for getting rid of the government completely but wants to have a more efficient one made to better the citizens in the long run. Henry persuades the audience to believe that they should not have a government, but that the government needs to improve.
Henry also persuades the readers to not support the government if they fail to make a change, to stop supporting the government and the choices they make regarding the citizens.
Henry talks about people’s right to go against a government that is doing them injustice. To persuade the audience in this area he compares the function of machine to the government. Henry wants citizens to be the reason the government starts to make a change. Henry is essentially trying to persuade the citizens to rebel against the government. Henry does a good job at persuading the readers to rebel in this section when he states. “they have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs” (par2). Henry shows the readers that if people are getting treated in humane within the government then, the people should stand up for the government.
To elaborate on this idea more, Henry gave an example on his thoughts. He looks back on the time when he was put in jail for not paying part of his taxes. Henry talks about how the government has no support in cases like his. Henry explains how a “simple and self-reliant lifestyle can be the most effective way to reach one’s goal. Henry once again persuades the audience when he disscuses how to be free from corrupting powers. He really captures the reader’s attention when he describes his time he spent in jail and how poorly he was treated. Henry then talks about how he doesn’t want to bash on the government and make it seem like they don’t do anything for anyone. He states that he wants to honor the current laws and respect them, but he argues that it’s hard to do so when they are not “honorable” in the first place. Henry also believes that the government is working on changing the laws but not working hard enough.
On the Duty to Civil Disobedience disscuses three very important topics. Civil government vs. higher law the government vs. an individual, and finally materialism vs. the simple life. Henry uses pathos, ethos and logos to help persuade the audience to agree with his ideas of the government. This essay explains to us the reasoning behind Henry’s thoughts and ideas. People should listen to Henry’s thoughts and ideas because he makes extremely valid points throughout the whole article. Henry disscuses why taking a stand against the government can help you in the long run. While this article is outdated, in present day it shows how right henry was. People have stood up for gay rights against the argument and have taken a stand on equality and we have made and immense amount of progress. Henrys ideas have influenced many major people through the nation and has made a massive impact on the world we live in today. A world filled with equality. Henry’s paper was ahead of its time and has persuades people from the past present and future to stand up for that they believe in.
