Civil Disobedience Response

In his piece "Civil Disobedience", Henry David Thoreau wastes no time telling the reader that the government is too involved in the country's affairs. He comes right out in the first sentence saying that he believes that "the government is best which governs least" (Thoreau). Thoreau uses logos in his piece in an attempt to convince the reader to take his side on the matter. At the time at which it was written, "Civil Disobedience" probably effected many readers who were trying to figure out their beliefs as far as government. However, in today's society, in my opinion, his argument does not hold up.

Thoreau has this belief that people should be able to govern themselves. Now I do not know what mixed up flowery fairy tale Thoreau lives in, but govenment like that would only lead to chaos. However, in his own time period, he was most likely one of the leaders of the radicals that wanted and believed in a small central government or one that barely existed at all. They had just escaped the rule of the king and now they felt as if they should be able to govern themselves and not have a strong government like Britain had. They were worried that the government would start to become like England's and the president began to look like a king with just a different title. Thoreau tries to make others see this point in his attempts at using logic. He says, "He who gives himself entirely to his fellow men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced a benefactor and philanthropist." (Civil Disobedience). Here he uses logos to show how foolish it would be to give yourself completely over to government saying you would simply be useless. However, if you are only partly governed by the federal government then you can actually be deemed beneficial to said government and your opinions and beliefs actually make a difference.

Thoreau is not completely crazy. He does bring up some good points as far as logos is concerned. However, he did not sway my beliefs at all. In his own time period though, I am sure many readers became subject to his persuasive attempts.