What does Thoreau suggest about the relationship between the government and the individual in his essay “Civil Disobedience?”

Answer

What does Thoreau suggest about the relationship between the government and the individual in his essay “Civil Disobedience?” [2021] ✪✪✪ Or, How does Thoreau deal with the relation between the government and the individual in his essay “Civil Disobedience?” [2018] Or, How does Thoreau treat the relation between the government and the individual in his essay “Civil Disobedience?” [2015] 

In a political system, the government and the people complement each other. In “Civil Disobedience” (1849), Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) explains this true relation between the government and the individual. He believes that the government should serve the people, not rule them. When it becomes unjust, man must follow his conscience rather than the law. Thoreau stands for individual freedom, moral duty, and resistance to wrong authority. He wants a state that respects each man’s conscience and allows him to live freely and truthfully.

Government as an Expedient: Thoreau begins his essay by stating that government is not an absolute power, but rather a helpful tool. It should help people live well and do the right thing. But when it supports injustice, it loses its moral worth. He writes, 

“That government is best which governs least.” 

He believes that the best government is the one that interferes the least and trusts people to act through their conscience.

Conscience above Law: There is a saying that “Laws are for the people, not the people for the laws.” Thoreau argues that every individual must obey his moral law before obeying the state. He says, 

“Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?”

For him, conscience is higher than civil law because majorities often act for interest, not for truth. Therefore, the individual must follow what he believes is right, even if it means going against the law or the crowd.

Man before Subject: Thoreau makes a clear difference between being a man and being a subject. A man follows truth and justice, but