Henry David Thoreau often took extreme positions on the issue of government and
its role in society. To this somewhat rebellious transcendentalist, government
should not govern people at all and law was often meant to be broken. Thoreau's
belief in individualism was so strong in fact that it seems he often took sides
on an in issue simply to be in favor of the minority, whether the majority was
right or wrong. Certainly, it is important for one to be himself and stand up
for what he believes in. However, to Thoreau's statement that "that
government is best which governs not at all" is a bit extreme. Some form of
government is necessary first and foremost to prevent chaos and widespread
disorder. Without laws and consequences for breaking those laws, people will do
exactly what pleases them without regard to how it affects others. Theft and
murder will become everyday occurrences because men without ethics will see no
reason not to commit these crimes. In fact, the entire population may ending
killing themselves off. In addition to an increase of crime, a significant
increase in poverty is likely to occur without government leadership. Without
government funding, public schools, hospitals, and transportation would be
nonexistent. This in conjunction with the lack of welfare funds would obviously
lead to a society of poor, uneducated, Webb 2 and sickly people. Without a
doubt, a society must be under the rule of a strong government power in order to
function properly. Thoreau's statement is also too harsh because it has no
regard for the fact that in a democratic society, the people essentially are the
government. The whole purpose of a democracy is to ensure that the people govern
themselves. Rather than being ruled by a dictator or monarch, members of a
democratic society are able to have an input on how the government runs.
Ideally, any law that is formed in this country is formed because the majority
of the population want it to be formed. Rather than complaining about the
existence of a government, Thoreau should have rejoiced at having the rights
people in America have. It is doubtful that the laws of any other country would
have allowed Thoreau more freedom or independence than the laws of the United
States. If he felt otherwise or disagreed with the majority of the population,
he should not have chosen to live in the United States. Certainly, one can see
that Thoreau's complaints about the censorship placed upon individuals by the
government were unjustified. Obviously, Thoreau went too far in stating that the
government should not govern at all. Without a government that does its job in
governing the people, disaster will occur. While it is not the government's
place to suppress the ideas or expressions of its people, it is vital to
maintaining organization. As a society, people should strive to find a medium
between total lack of government and total control by the government.