Henry david Thoreau- Civil Disobedience

What is the individual’s responsibility regarding supporting the government when it is wrong?

The individual has no responsibility to support the government when it is wrong. The responsibility lies within the individual to stand up for what is right, and take action against a slow moving government. If change must be done other avenues of solutions must be found. If the government is wrong no individual has to stand up for them. Current issues in the U.S display this very thing. Our government went into Iraq and most of America does not agree with that. “But to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.” (Thoreau 138).
Thoreau asserts that he requests a better government and let every individual express what government suits them as that will be one stop closer to achieving the government you want. Our government will not shape itself; we have to shape it ourselves, and to do that we must include input and knowledge. “A government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it” (Thoreau 138). The majority isn’t always just, and the individual can not support the majority if the majority is not just. This happens a lot today because of voting, and even though the biggest thing isn’t just the government still passes the majority.

Works Cited

Thoreau, Henry David. "Civil Disobedience." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Trans. Stephen Mitchell. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. pp133-158.