Wednesday, July 12, 2017

200th Anniversary of Henry David Thoreau's Birth




I read Thoreau a lot when I was younger. I disagreed with him on points, but his writing has a way of sneaking up on you.  Given it is his 200th Birthday, it is good to go back and revisit his writing.



4 comments:

  1. He went to jail because he wouldn't pay taxes to fund the Mexican War because, like a lot of the tinfoil hat crowd of his day (including Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant), he believed it was all a plot by the slavers.

    The Jane Fonda of the 1840s.

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    Replies
    1. When you compare Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant to Jane Fonda you have wandered into a fantasy world of delusion.

      Like I said, I disagreed with Thoreau on many points (I think our only mistake in the Mexican War was not taking more territory), but I like his writing.

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    2. I didn't compare Lincoln and Grant, I compared Thoreau.

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    3. Thoreau engaged in some minor civil disobedience (and spent a night in jail), he was not Hanoi Jane.

      There were people who were the equivalent of Fonda (or worse) at that time.

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