"Resistance to Civil Government"

This picture is regarding a rally being held in April, 2010 sponsored by FreedomWorks, to protest big government and support lower taxes, less government and more freedom. The picture represents the principle of putting ideas into acton by resistance and protest, which is a Transcendentalist principle. During this period of writing, there was a spirit of rebellion. Thoreau shows this in his 'Civil Disobedience'. He starts off with "I heartly accept the motto,--that government is best which governs least, and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically carried out." Thoreau even mentions the Revolution of '75 (1775) on Page 831 of his writing. Thoreau probably never dreamed we would be reading his article and discussing it regarding the size of the government in 2010, 161 years after he published it. This picture shows that people are still protesting being taxed too much, only now it isn't Great Britian that we have to deal with but our own country. I wonder what Thoreau would have said if he were here today and saw how many trillion dollars our government is in debt and how much taxes people have to pay. I think he would be absolutely shocked. Like him, I don't mind paying taxes on education or highways. However, I think the government spends too much money and attaches too many extras to get a bill passed. If you check over the new health care bill just passed, you probably will find a lot of extra costs attached to it that don't have anything to do with health care. The protest rally advertised will probably appear on the news the day it happens but after that you probably won't hear another word about it. However, Thoreau believed each individual should have a voice and should use that voice. You should not just sit back and accept everything the government dishes out. That's the reason Thoreau went to jail for a day. He believed in his principles and refused to pay the poll-tax that was due. "I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account." (P. 838) In the Transcendentalism period of writing there was a spirit of rebellion and this picture shows that principle.
Jason Richert