Government\'s Curtailment of the Liberal,

Government's curtailment of the liberal, human mind in "On the duty of civil disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau's discourse entitled "Civil Disobedience" (1849) brought into fore one of the most radical propositions in the socio-political order of 19th century society. In this discourse, he expressed, among other things, his views of the kind of political system that prevailed in Western society, which halted the social and intellectual progress in humanity. Specifically centering his analysis on the American government, Thoreau's analysis in 'On the duty of civil disobedience' showed that instead of representing the rights and interests of the civil society, the government had instead represented the interest of few powerful and wealthy people. In effect, government is "inexpedient" because it curtailed civil society's right to have a liberal life by giving it the privilege of experiencing justice, peace, and morality.

Thoreau explicated how the installation of a government led to the curtailment of civil society's freedom to think for and express themselves. In arguing his point, he looked into the development of the government as a political system throughout history, which he described as headed by the majority, "not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically strongest." This means that power and control of the government comes not from the majority who had willingly allowed it to act as their representative, but to the selected few who are financially capable and politically able to put forward policies that would benefit their interests and in effect, cause detriment to civil society in general.

The curtailment Thoreau had been discussing in the essay was not only the 'censorship' or prevention of people to exercise their freedom in general. He centers on people's inability to act according to the dictates of their conscience, for the existence of laws and policies rendered society paralyzed and unable to think conscientiously about their actions -- that is, whether the actions they committed were conscientiously right or wrong. Asserting this point, he stated, "Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?... Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward." From this passage, Thoreau stressed the importance of civil society as the primary holder of power and control in the sovereign rather than the individuals who were supposedly given the function to represent civil society (i.e., political leaders and officials).