How Henry David Thoreaus Influence Is Evident Today Philosophy Essay

How Henry David Thoreaus Influence Is Evident Today Philosophy Essay Henry David Thoreau preached the prospects of being non-violent and described the effects wars have had on humans as a whole. To give some background information, David Thoreau was born on 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts. When he was around the age of sixteen, he enrolled himself in Harvards Latin, Greek, grammar composition, and philosophy classes. While at college he soon became engrossed in Ralph Waldo Emersons famous writings. Unknown to him, Ralph Waldo Emerson would become a leading example in his decision making and overall, his friend. Henry David Thoreau graduated in 1837 and became a school teacher. During the year 1841 he had the pleasure of living with Ralph Waldo Emerson. While with him he grew in knowledge and thus set off on his own voyage. He soon moved to Walden Ponds where he lived for about two years. During a trip into town he was thrown into jail for refusing to pay a poll tax, which went to help war efforts against Mexico. While imprisoned and unbeknownst to him he would be writing one of the most famous and historic essays of that time entitled, Civil Disobedience. A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a mans life as in a book. Haste makes waste, no less in life than in housekeeping. Keep the time, observe the hours of the universe, not of the cars. (All quotes are from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/henry_david_thoreau.html#ixzz1KT5xN8ne) A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting. As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution. Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself than this incessant business. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life youve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. How did Henry David Thoreau view non-violent resistance? He felt that all of humanity had a right to decide whether to fight or not. He viewed this as much more than actions but as a state of mind. Just not taking part in war wasnt enough. You had to truly understand the principles. He along with Ralph Waldo Emerson thought that each person was entitled to his own opinion and decision making. That government is best which governs least. That quotation was taken from his famous essay entitled Civil Disobedience. Henry David Thoreau wasnt against the government, but just a few laws and mandates. Henry David Thoreau thought that even though America, as a whole was gaining prosperity, it was also losing integrity. As time progressed he witnessed America losing its values and foundation, which had made it such a noble nation. Another thing he noticed about the Government was that they did not keep the country free. They proclaimed many times about America being the land of the free, but h e viewed that as a false statement. Henry David Thoreau was anti-statism. 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 and women are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. He felt strongly about his beliefs and as a result he didnt want to take part in wars. Since he was a scholar and was very knowledgeable, surely he had read about the effects of past wars. He knew that wars only brought about pain, suffering, and more turmoil. Ending One war would bring about 10 fold he stated. You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves. All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours to il. The fight to the finish spirit is the one characteristic we must possess if we are to face the future as finishers. How did Henry David Thoreau practice non-violent resistance? Henry David Thoreau didnt take part in the governments wars. He simply refused no matter the consequences. His example should be commended because he stood by his beliefs no matter what. As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives. From this quote we can see that he didnt give up. He also made it clear what he believed not only in his essays but also to government officials. Every man casts a shadow; not his body only, but his imperfectly mingled spirit. This is his grief. Let him turn which way he will, it falls opposite to the sun; short at noon, long at eve. Did you never see it? I am sorry to think that you do not get a mans most effective criticism until you provoke him. Severe truth is expre ssed with some bitterness. Henry David Thoreau did not live in a big city. He knew that only trouble could come from being a non-violent resister. So too make his life easier he never got married and he lived in the woods. I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. I have never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. What Individuals did Henry David Thoreau influence? Unfortunately Henry David Thoreau died of tuberculosis May 6, 1862, at the age of 44. After his death the world changed drastically. As he passed away a new light shined over America. President Abraham Lincoln freed all slaves in the United States. This would lead to a momentous future for African Americans. One in particular was Dr. Martin Luther King. He was an important figure in African American Literature and in history in general. Like Henry David Thoreau he believed you could conquer the evil with the good. Dr. Martin Luther King was not anti-government. All he fought for was true freedom and equality. He felt that black werent being treated fairly. He knew what America motto was, The Land of The Free, and thats what he wanted. He wanted that prospect not only for himself but also for the other millions of other African American in the United States. About half way across the world another individual took a stand for non viol ent resistance. His name was Mohandas Gandhi. During the time he lived in, he too was surrounded by war. The British had taken control of Gandhis nation and their people were prepared to take it back. Gandhi preached about not taking up arms and told his fellow countrymen what war would do to the country and to future generations. Some listened, but many opposed his teachings because they thought of him as not being loyal to the government and to the main religion in India, Hinduism. Loyalty was very during that time because the nation needed to join together in order to become free from the British. It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise. Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh. Live the life youve dreamed. Justice is sweet and musical; but injustice is harsh and discordant. It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate. It is the greatest of all advantages to enjoy no advantage at all. Both of these two individuals had an important impact on history, not only in the United States But all over the world. Since Dr. Martin Luther King fought so hard for the rights and freedom of African Americans, everyone today has the privilege of living their dreams and not being held back. We have a prime example of one individual who wasnt held back by anything, and that is President Barack Obama. Many years ago Dr. Martin Luther King spoke about such freedom and how we needed a change, and now we have it. Thanks to him our possibilities in the world are limitless. The Second Individual Henry David Thoreau influenced was Gandhi. We benefit from his actions to day because a lot of our leaders in the world, base their decisions on his way of thinking Being peaceable was truly the right way to take and a lot of our political leaders are that way. What was Henry David Thoreaus Message? Basically Thoreau wanted, not only for himself but for everyone, the prospects of free will. He felt that the government was abusing their right to rule. He also believed that people should decide for themselves whether or not to take another humans life and participate in war efforts. Thoreau wasnt all talk. He too was persecuted for his actions. There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself. Truth is always in harmony with herself, and is not concerned chiefly to reveal the justice that may consist with wrong-doing. We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn. Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Henry David Thoreau is impacting humans today because he used a logical method of reasoning. The information he wrote in his essay are just as important and beneficial today as it was 100s of years ago. The things he wrote down can help us all to on becoming a better nation and better people. Next we will consider an excerpt from his essay entitled Civil Disobedience. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as theIt does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way. If tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure. After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest. But a government in which the majority rules in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it. Can there not be a government in which the majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?in which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable? 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. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right. It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation on conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience. He who gives himself entirely to his fellow men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them in pronounced a benefactor and philanthropist. How does it become a man to behave toward the American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slaves government also. I have contemplated the imprisonment of the offender, rather than the seizure of his goodstho ugh both will serve the same purposebecause they who assert the purest right, and consequently are most dangerous to a corrupt State, commonly have not spent much time in accumulating property. To such the State renders comparatively small service, and a slight tax is wont to appear exorbitant, particularly if they are obliged to earn it by special labor with their hands. If there were one who lived wholly without the use of money, the State itself would hesitate to demand it of him. But the rich mannot to make any invidious comparisonis always sold to the institution which makes him rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue; for money comes between a man and his objects, and obtains them for him; it was certainly no great virtue to obtain it. (http://www.transcendentalists.com/civil_disobedience.htm) In conclusion, how can we use his message in our daily lives? Henry David Thoreau would have wanted the Untied States to be a place where people held the power, or in other words the majority rules. It may seem like that today but, if there was a draft, any and everyone the government wanted to fight, would have to fight. We could stand firm against opposition and keep Thoreaus words at the forefront of our minds. We could stop paying our taxes, just like he did but that would lead to calamity on down the road. His being neural in politics and wars could prove to be beneficial in the future, because staying out of wars could save our lives despite some government persecution. So behave that the odor of your actions may enhance the general sweetness of the atmosphere, that when we behold or scent a flower, we may not be reminded how inconsistent your deeds are with it; for all odor is but one form of advertisement of a moral quality, and if fair actions had not been performed, the lil y would not smell sweet. The foul slime stands for the sloth and vice of man, the decay of humanity; the fragrant flower that springs from it, for the purity and courage which are immortal. Only nature has a right to grieve perpetually, for she only is innocent. Soon the ice will melt, and the blackbirds sing along the river which he frequented, as pleasantly as ever. The same everlasting serenity will appear in this face of God, and we will not be sorrowful, if he is not. Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them. Politics is the gizzard of society, full of grit and gravel, and the two political parties are its opposite halves sometimes split into quarters which grind on each other. Not only individuals but states have thus a confirmed dyspepsia. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail. The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them. To read well, that is, to read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise, and one that will task the reader more than any other exercise which the customs of the day esteem. It requires a training such as the athletes underwent, the steady intention almost of the whole life to this object. Work Cited Page http://www.thoreau-online.org/henry-david-thoreau-biography.htm http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/henry_david_thoreau.html#ixzz1KT5xN8ne http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/house-passes-the-13th-amendment http://www.transcendentalists.com/civil_disobedience.htm

us history :: essays research papers

The Declaration of Independence contains words all Americans take for granted: â€Å"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The founders of the country that would become the United States had to put these words into a written declaration because those ruling them at the time did not recognize those rights. Democracy as we know it today was just beginning to take shape prior to the American Revolutionary War.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Often, the events are presented to students in overly simplistic ways: the colonists simply got mad because they had no parliamentary procedures for influencing the laws that governed them, a concept explained as â€Å"taxation without representation.† England imposed more and more taxes on the colonists, and they had no way to stop the King from doing this to them, so they rebelled. However, the idea that they should have the right to overthrow a government that denied them what we now think of as basic rights was a relatively new one, and not one embraced by all political leaders in Europe at the time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These ideas began with discoveries in science that revealed that our physical world was governed by predictable rules, by cause and effect (Mills, 1996). At the time, science was viewed as a branch of philosophy, and scientific thinking was gradually applied to philosophy, leading to a new school of thought that came to be known as â€Å"The Enlightenment.† (The Economist, 1999) The idea of democracy wasn’t new. Ancient   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rights page 2 Greece had been ruled by a modified form of democracy that gave the right to vote to the upper echelons of male citizens.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The development of modern democracy also had roots in developing economic practice. John Locke, one of prominent thinkers in the Enlightenment movement, put great emphasis on the right to own property. Systems of law that were respected by members of many different countries were necessary so commerce could develop. Without laws regarding ownership and property, those engaging in trade could not be certain that transaction agreements would be honored (The Economist, 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In reports of the events leading up to the American Revolution, the King of England is often depicted as a dictator who pronounced law as he saw fit based on his absolute power. However, the notion of a monarch with absolute power was not the standard for most of European history.

Mckinstry Advertising Agency Essay

You are the president of the McKinstry Advertising Agency, a medium sized firm that specializes in preparing the marketing strategies, performing the market research studies, arranging the distribution channels, and designing the advertising and promotional materials for industrial companies that have developed †off-shoot† consumer products. You obviously serve a very specific niche. Your clients are industrial companies- that is, they sell primarily to other manufacturing firms and government agencies- that have developed- as unintended outcomes of their R&D programs- products for the retail trade. Dow Chemical Company, while not a client of your agency, is an almost ideal example of this type of firm. They have developed and currently produce and market such consumer products as Dow Bathroom Cleaner and Ziploc Bags that in total amount to only 5.8% of Dow’s total sales. You clients tend not to be as large as Dow Chemical Company nor as well established in consume r marketing. Most have had very little experience in retail sales, and they generally are not very sophisticated in advertising methods. They tend, therefore, to rely heavily upon the advice of the account executives and advertising experts at your agency, and to develop relationships with those people that are far more permanent and personal than is common in the â€Å" what have you done for me lately† culture of the consumer products advertising industry. The â€Å"permanent and personal† relationships that are typical of your company but not of industry in general seem to be the cause of a major problem that you have recently encountered. One of your large clients developed a new type of radar detector. Radar detectors, also known as â€Å"fuzzbusters† are simple but extremely sensitive radio receivers that are tuned to the wave length of the police radar. When a car equipped with a enabling the driver to slow down, if necessary, before the speed of the car can be calculated by the police equipment. The use of radar detectors, thus enables drivers to avoid being stopped and fined for speeding. Speeding is alleged to be responsible for many traffic accidents. There were 27.7 million traffic accidents involving passenger car in 2000, and 6.1 million traffic accidents involving trucks. These 33.8 million traffic accidents resulted in 46400 deaths, 1.8 million sever injuries that required  hospitalization, 7.8 million moderate injuries that required attention by medical personnel, extensive slight injuries, uncounted personal traumas, and huge financial losses. Speeding was said to be a factor in 65 % of all traffic accidents and 87% of those that caused deaths and serve injuries due to the greater impacts that come from the higher speeds, but it has to be admitted that neither statistic is totally reliable. Police estimate speed based upon the length of skid marks and the extent of physical damage, but those estimates obviously are inexact. Further, â€Å"speeding â€Å" is defined as any vehicle velocity above the posted limit, and it is claimed that the posted limit is considerably below the safe capability of modern car and high way in many instances. Vehicle speed, moreover, is only one of the factor that cause traffic accidents. Alcohol intoxication is believe to be associated with 28% of all accidents and 48% of all accidents that result in death and severe injury. Often speed and intoxication together are held to be the cause. Again, though, there is a problem in measuring intoxication. The percentage of alcohol in bloodstream that impairs physical response time and personal judgment varies with the body weight, physical conditioning, and drinking history of the individual. Police and medical attendants use a test that takes into account only body weight and, further, it is said by representatives of the licensed beverage( that is, beer, wine, and liquor) industry that the legal threshold for intoxication has been set much too low. Most drivers would be considered to be â€Å"driving under the influence† of they consumed two to three glasses of beer or wine within 30 minutes of and accident. In summary, it cannot be sai d that exact cause of most severe traffic accidents are known with certainty but it is believed that speeding and drinking, jointly or separately, play some role in the events that lead up to those accidents. Also to blame, in many instances, are the design of the highway, the condition of the weather, the maintenance of the vehicle, the time of the day (many severe accidents occur at dusk, with poor lighting and tired drivers), and the presence of radar detectors. A study by the Ohio State Police found that radar detectors were present in at least one of the vehicles involved in 69% of all severe traffic accidents on the highways of that state in 2005. Studies in other states have confirmed that finding, with some estimates of the relationship running as high as 75%. The use of radar detectors is illegal in many if not most states, but neither the  manufacturing nor the marketing of the units has ever been banned by the federal government which, of course, is the sole authority which could regulate their interstate trade. The U.S. constitution forbids any state from restricting† imports† from any other state. Currently, therefore, there often occur an unusual situation in w hich the use if the radar detector sets may be illegal within a given state, but the sale of those sets is not illegal and cannot be prohibited within that state. The manufacture and marketing of radar detectors was expanding industry, with total sales revenues reaching $67 million in 1991, until the police in a number of states began to uses lasers rather than radar to apprehend speeders. Lasers project focused beams of light waves rather than focused beams of radio waves, and consequently they cannot be â€Å"picked up† by most radar detectors. Your client, as an offshoot of contract research for the defense industry, has developed a new technology that does â€Å"pick up† the light waves far enough away from the source so that drivers can slow down. A full explanation of the technology is not needed; it is probably sufficient to say that the device works on the principle that the light waves from a police laser interfere with a certain spectrum of exceedingly short-range radio signals broadcast from the detector set in the owner’s car is out of sight, perhaps 1/4 mile ahead in the highway, and the police laser is not ta rgeted on this particular car. The proposed design also picks up the interference from a police radar device equally well. The electronics firm that developed the new radar/laser detection came to the account executive at your agency and requested a marketing plan supported by market research. The marketing plan was developed; it had a heavy emphasis upon direct distribution supported by extensive advertising. The market research was completed; it showed that the first entrant into this field with a new technology could rapidly build market share. The client requested that a young associated who had prepared a very successful advertising program for one of their earlier products be assigned to design the promotional materials for this new one. The associate, Marilynn Schaefer, refused, saying privately that she felt that it was not â€Å"right† to market radar and/or laser detectors that led to more numerous and more severe highway accidents and to greater incidents of death, suffering, and injury. The program director proposed other employees at the associate level within the  creative segment of the firm, but the client’s representative wanted Marilynn Schaefer to do the work. She continued to refuse, though expressing her reasons only to the account executive, George Sarbo. Eventually the conflict between these two people reached the stage at which George said to Marilynn, â€Å"either work on this account for me or don’t work at this agency for anyone† and fired her. Marilynn Schaefer immediately came to you, as president of the agency, saying that it was not right to fire a person because of her moral beliefs. George Sarbo quickly followed, saying that for 20 years he had followed the stated agency policy of providing clients with personalized service, and that if Marilynn did not want to so she could not work for him and she should not work for company. He also said that if Marilynn were retained at the agency he would leave. You realize that George Sarbo is one of only three account executives at your firm, that he has a very loyal following of clients with him if he indeed did decide to leave. Further conversations with both of the participants in the dispute and with the industrial client on the following day showed no change in their positions. The client’s representative clearly felt that the delay in assigning Ms. Schaefer to work on the needed advertising was due only to the press of other accounts upon her time; he stated that he felt that he was â€Å"owned† her assistance on this project.

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