"Civil Disobedience" and Today

     At first glance, there may seem to be a large discrepancy between today’s America and our government, and those which Henry David Thoreau describes in Civil Disobedience. However, the chasm is not as large as one may think. Yes, Americans may be more outspoken today, either for better or worse, but that does not necessarily mean they are more free from government. Rather, it can be argued we are more chained to government than we would like to believe so. One sole question now persists, why is this the case? The short answer is because we let the government get too large.

     Now for the lengthier, more complicated answer. There is only a limited amount of freedom that an individual can have. The most amount of freedom is in an anarchist society and the least is in a society engulfed by communism. In other words, the more control the government has, the less freedom the individuals have. So why don’t we live in an anarchist society? This society would just lead to mob rule, which ultimately forms an unfair ruling entity that basically acts as either a fascist, socialist, communist, or some form of oppressive government. Okay, now it’s been established we need some form of government to protect its people but also allow them freedom. That’s what our Founding Fathers thought; a government to protect. However, as time went on, and the 20^th century came, the American government was granted evermore power by the people as a larger portion of the people began depending on the government. Thus, they gave up more of their freedom. This general trend of relying on the government as if it is some omniscient all-savior has only grown to the brink where complete control by the state is no longer viewed as a dystopia but rather welcomed by a significant portion of Americans. Yet, these same people are shouting that they want freedom as they are supposedly oppressed. It is actually ironic.

     In short, we currently live and have lived for a long time under a government which we rely too heavily on. And who is to blame? The people. Now, it is important to understand not all Americans want or have ever wanted a more powerful government as they believe, “That government is best which governs least,” so my anger only lies with those who complain they don’t like the policies emplaced by the state when they, themselves voted for those policies and their corresponding politicians (Thoreau 382). I briefly mentioned this during the Socratic Seminar, as how students taking a stand against standardized testing in public schools was useless as they would only be at a loss with all the repercussions.  If you want the government to control something and then let it, you are at fault when the results are not on par with your expectations. In my opinion, the modern civil disobedience is not to take a stand or call for action, but to first realize the more the state controls and has jurisdiction over, the less freedom you have, and then vote and/or advocate for the appropriate policies and politicians.