Henry Thoreau\'s Resistance to Civil Government

¶ … Resistance to Civil Government, or Civil Disobedience," with these words:

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 the will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient."

While Thoreau is talking about a minimalist kind of government that intrudes as little as possible into the individual's life, the words are almost anarchistic, and it strikes me that what Thoreau is really demonstrating is one of the most remarkable things about the United States: near total freedom of speech. When it comes to Thoreau's vision of what a government should be, we have just about accomplished it with our concept of freedom of speech, which is nearly unparalleled anywhere else in the world.

When Thoreau wrote those revolutionary words, we stood out in the world as quite remarkable. Although France had also had a revolution at the end of the 18th century, their revolution had not ended the turmoil in their country. Such words would have caused great consternation in France. While the words would have been allowed in England, they might have been seen as the ravings as a crackpot. Only in the United States did the turmoil in either thought or deed by individuals against a ruling government result in a country solid enough to tolerate such thoughts.

Thoreau writes in the tradition of such men as Thomas Paine, still speaking out against any form of governmental excess. He complains about the war against Mexico, which reminds me of our situation with Iraq today. I tend to think our coming war with Iraq is mostly wanted by a few people in our country for their own reasons, just as Thoreau said that about the Mexican war. We even have laws in congress to protect "whistle-blowers," those who speak out against excesses or abuses in our government bureaucracy.

Thoreau noted that government (state and federal) quickly becomes entrenched and tradition-bound, and that the best government encourages enterprise best by just getting out of the way. Anyone looking at the IRS tax forms and the tax laws we have put in place for businesses, which would include small farmers like Thoreau today, would agree. Thoreau would probably be a tax protester, not because he was a poor citizen but to rail against the massive rules, regulations, and restrictive traditions that have grown up around taxation.