DEMOCRATS AGAINST U.N. AGENDA 21
  • VIDEOS
  • The way we see it...Our blog
  • OK, So what is Agenda 21? And why should I care? Part 1
    • Help, I'm going to a council meeting
  • VP Joe Biden and the New World Order
  • BUY BEHIND THE GREEN MASK
    • BEHIND THE GREEN MASK: KINDLE & NOOK
  • ONE WORLD ONE VISION 2050
    • VIDEO AND SMEAR ARTICLES
  • FLYERS
  • WHAT CAN I DO?
  • WHO FUNDS UN AGENDA 21?
  • LAWSUIT AGAINST A21
  • COMMON CORE IS AGENDA 21
  • YOUR COMMENTS
  • DEVELOPING A WINNING STRATEGY
    • How Have We Resisted Agenda 21?
  • Invite Rosa to speak!
  • GREAT SOURCE INFO
  • ICLEI: When they say local they mean it
    • ICLEI - USA MEMBER LIST
  • Sustainable Development Article
  • SMART METERS
  • ALERT: 'OCCUPY, THE SOURCE'
  • Government Tricks: The latest
  • Donate/Contact Us
  • About Us

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

7/3/2010

 
Henry David Thoreau is best known for On Walden Pond, his meditation on self-reliance, but my favorite of his works is On the Duty of Civil Disobedience.  This essay is often published in a collection with Walden and is usually referred to as 'Civil Disobedience.'  I don't know why the title is shortened in that manner by publishers, but I wish it weren't, because his message is that there is a civic duty to be disobedient.  A DUTY.  Frankly it's amazing that this piece is still studied in schools, at least I hope it is.  The beauty and clarity of On the Duty of Civil Disobedience lies in Thoreau's curmudgeonly insistence on declaring his right, and ours, to our independence.  Not just in body, but in thought.  In deed.  In belief.  The individual declaration of independence. The acknowledgment of personal responsibility for  putting civic duty into action.  A civic duty to be disobedient when actions that your government takes are known to be wrong.  That there is a clear moral standard and that it is important that we adhere to it. 

Thoreau was a Transcendentalist but came out of strict Calvinist tradition, and lived in a sort of loose communion with Ralph Waldo Emerson (whose Divinity School Address to the graduating class of Harvard Divinity School got him barred from entering the campus forever after.  Why?  Because he told the class to think for itself) and others. They were free thinkers and allowed themselves the full rein of their intellect while hewing to a strong moral code.  They knew right from wrong and were not afraid to speak it.

We have a great tradition of thought in America.  One not burdened by centuries of adherence to kings or churches, popes or dogma.  Yet we've allowed ourselves to slip out of a deep sense of right and wrong.  Why should issues of gay rights and gay marriage have confused and separated the country? Do we have such a tenuous attachment to right and wrong that we have to scourge those who would acknowledge and celebrate a state of being that has persisted since the beginning of man?  Better to look at ourselves as a moral people in terms of our personal actions,  and examine our desire to be part of a group to the detriment of our individual sense of what is right.  I speak of the need to be part of the herd, to not raise our voice because our neighbor may hear, to cast a stone because the crowd surrounds us.  To avoid asking the hard questions, such as:  Why have I tolerated the restrictions of personal freedoms because of a perceived external threat?  Why have I accepted that individual rights must be abridged for the overall 'good' of the nation?  Why am I so afraid of not being liked that I will stand by when someone is being attacked for speaking the truth?  Why am I willing to accept corruption in government if I see it in my own political party?  Or my church?  Or my social movement?

Thoreau's most famously quoted statement that a man must keep pace with his own drummer, however measured or far away, is part of a deeply American tradition.  A tradition that we are proud of for a reason.  It takes courage, and we honor that.

FreeUsNow link
8/4/2010 02:19:32 am

Great piece. It is so wonderful to see another Dem take this position. This is the first time I have been willing to admit to ever having been a Dem since the 2008 Primaries. I switched and will not doubt ever return to either party again except perhaps to vote in primaries until we can get that changed.

Meanwhile, I would like your permission to cross post this piece- or better yet-you are invited to be one of my contributors on my blog.

I have been perusing you entire blog, I need and have been waiting for an advisor and blogger for the Agenda21 issue and I find you to be highly qualified. I would be honored to have you contribute a copy of whatever you blog here also to my site.

Please contact me [email protected]


Comments are closed.

    And the winner is...

    What is UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development?
    It is the blueprint, the comprehensive plan of action for the 21st century to inventory and control all land, all water, all plants, all minerals, all animals, all construction, all means of production, all energy, all law enforcement, all health care, all food, all education, all information, and all human beings in the world
    .

    Your energy consumption will be controlled until you can't farm, can't manufacture, can't travel, can't fish, can't use your land. Productivity and businesses are limited now.

    You've heard that story about Tony Blair asking Angela Merkel how Germany could have such a high GDP when it was such a small country.  Merkel snapped at him: We still make things in Germany, Mr. Blair.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    October 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010

    Categories

    All
    Agenda Organizations
    Asset Based Community Development
    China
    Common Core
    Communitarianism
    Good News
    Grassroots Activism
    Grassroots Struggle
    Iclei
    Neighborhood Associations
    Our Story
    Redevelopment
    Regional Plans
    Smart Growth
    Smart Meters
    War On Terror

    RSS Feed


NOTE: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Articles may be republished as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact. 2010-2020 COPYRIGHT ROSA KOIRE