American Political Thought Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

the Statesn Political Thought - evidence ExampleEver since Cain killed Abel, it became necessary to protect future Abels, and to restrain the Cains. And after the concept of private belongings became established, it became crucial to protect that as well. Thus was born the state. The government is the manifest spirit of the state - constitute by a group of people who represent it. The legitimacy of the state and its government is thus ground on the interests of the people it serves and this dictum holds true for sluice the about autocratic state governed by the most despotic of rulers.Is the role of the government, one of mere maintenance - of peace and security, and private property, or should it concern itself with more more than that Let us examine this question, with reference, primarily, to the views of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) a naturalist and philosopher cum political theorist (perhaps the bourne reminds us of the Platonic, Philosopher-King Though Thoreau himsel f would have been quite appalled to have himself be compared to any king, despite the humanitarian of the title philosopher)Thoreaus views on the state, which are set down in his work Civil Disobedience, influenced not but Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, but in like manner those who struggled for the abolition of apartheid in South Africa, and more recently into the 70s and till to daylight - those (especially in America) who have taken an ethical stand against war. Thoreau unequivocally rejected the right of the state to impose taxes, and express that that government is best which governs the least (website thinkexist.com) The immediate reason for Thoreaus writing, summarily rejecting the authority of the state was on count on of his being imprisoned (this was only for a day, as he was bailed out by his family, much to his discomposure). He had refused to pay a poll tax, and his refusal was a deliberate act of defiance, as he state that the government had no right to tax him. He declared that it was against his conscience to pay taxes to a government, which indulged in acts he did not approve of. Although the government, especially in a democracy, represented the voice of the people, Thoreau stated that it also stood for the interests of elite politicians, which he was in no way ready to support. He went to the extent of arguing that even if the government did right, and followed the will of the majority, those who chose to disagree with the majority also had their right to not follow the diktats of this majority as expressed through the government they (the minority) should be permitted to live on their own, unconnected with the state. (McElroy) He was, in fact, recommending a situation of peaceful and constructive anarchy, where each individual could choose to dwell within or without the confines (in the scam and not a physical sense) of the state, as he pleased. What did Thoreau find so repugnant with the government of his day He objected t o the governments support and continuance of slavery and also the Mexican-American war. Thoreau wrote his Civil Disobedience roughly fifteen geezerhood before slavery was abolished in the US, and the debate over its abolition was just gaining momentum. Apart from this, the government had embarked on a policy of expansion, based on a common perception that it was the Manifest Destiny (McElroy) of America to expand and bring under control the native populations. In this process, Texas was annexed, and this led to a