Civil Disobedience, it's a good thing

I remember it was in high school, in my American Literature class, I read Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience." Before reading it, I had not imagined I would like it, let alone connect with it. I was proven wrong and am happy to say so.

As I read through, I found myself stopping and thinking over the ramifications of Thoreau's words. Many times early on, I was frustrated and even angry with the ideas and concepts. As he wrote of only having the obligation to do what he felt right, I was appalled. I could not believe a man would endorse doing whatever pleased someone, simply because they felt it right. Each of us has different views upon what is wrong or right. How is it to be known whether those actions will infringe upon others.

As I reached the halfway point, I noticed in all my reactions i wrote on the margins I was on the defense. I was defending government and our society. I thought over this and decided that perhaps I should come at the piece from a different way. I began reading again with an open mind.

As Thoreau spoke of such concepts as it not being every man's duty to fight wrongs, but his duty to not become a part of them, and that man has no right to complain about anything, unless he makes an effort to change it, I began to connect. I realized that I could not go through this essay trying to disagree with Thoreau, but that I needed to first understand his philosophy and what he had to say.

As I reached the end, I reflected upon Thoreau's main point. The conclusion I came to was that all men, on a basic level, are the same. Each man carries with him the same morals and that in order to coexist, each and every person needs to get to that basic level, which we all are at when we are born. Later that pristine beginning gets covered with the mud and muck of prejudice, opinion, and tradition.

I found that much of what Thoreau wrote fit into my life. I had always found it annoying that people complained so much and yet did nothing to change that which gave them grief. One example of this was a Chemistry teacher, who would always complain about the school newspaper. He did not believe that it covered things completely and did not think it was worth while. I asked him why then did he not speak to the class or in some way try to get involved. I asked him if he expected to change it through little more than complaining. He had no response, but his complaints stopped after that.

Before reading "Civil Disobedience," this had been a concept which I could not put to words and thus could not share with others. I was excited that at last I could say what I had known.