http://posneg.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/ghandi-inembassady.jpg"If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible." (Pg. 837)
Mohandas Ghandi was influenced by Henry David Thoreau's writing and used non-violent civil disobedience to start a revolution in India. The quote by Thoreau is about how it is possible to have a peaceful revolution which is what Ghandi was a part of in India. Ghandi used peaceful resistance against the British in order to achieve his goal of freedom and self-government. As part of the resistance against the British Ghandi asked the people of India to boycott British products and anything that involved the British government including jobs. Thoreau mentions a similar idea in the quote when he says that a thousand men could decide to not pay their taxes as a way of peaceful resistance against the government. Both focus on boycotting the government in non-violent ways to try to change how the government is run. That is how the picture of Mohandas Ghandi demonstrates the quote from Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government". The quote is an example of Transcendentalist thought because it involves social reform and the power each individual has to have a say in how our government is run. A part of Transcendentalism is the desire to turn ideas into action. In the quote Thoreau is saying that one thing people can do to take action and protest something is by not paying their taxes. This forces the government to decide whether they want to change their policies and laws or jail thousands of people because they didn't pay their taxes. He goes on to say that by choosing to not take action for something they believe in people will continue to support something they are against.
I really like what you've posted. You found a great picture/example of how Thoreau and his Transcendentalist ideals were actually used in the world. (Part of that "turning idea into action" point!) It helps to have some perspective about how some of these Transcendentalist ideas could be used, rather than just reading about how they might work. So seeing this example is helpful to paint the whole picture, thanks for the great post!
ReplyDeleteI think Ghandi is a good picture for this quote. Like Ghandi this quote stands for how he wanted non-violent consequences for things. Both of them just wanted peace, and for things to not be so cruel.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about Thoreau on "Civil Disobedience". You had some of the same ideas I used, but I like the fact that you wrote about Ghandi. It just goes to show that one individual's opinion does matter. Sometimes the idea takes hold and big things are accomplished, which was this case. Even in the case of Thoreau going to jail in "Civil Disobedience" because he though he shouldn't pay the poll-tax. Here we are studying his article today and reading about him. This is another example of someone standing up to what he believed, and their life being studied by millions of people, including us!
ReplyDeleteJason Richert