Henry David Thoreau and the Patriot Act

520 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Thoreau's views

Henry David Thoreau questioned how an unjust law should be handled, should it just be followed, should action be taken to fix the law while still obeying it, or should it just be transgressed completely. The idea that one of these answers is correct is a fallacy, and a bad assumption. The answer depends on the situation at hand. Any law that tramples on the rites of a person or a group of people is a law that should be ignored and protested and actively broken. On the other hand a law that just lacks sense; is one that we could just live with or push to have fixed.

The PATRIOT Act is the perfect law to show how the lines of how to handle bad legislation easily blur. This is a law that allows the federal government to strip a person of their "inalienable rights" if they are suspected of terrorist like activities. The PATRIOT Act has to be actively fought but it must be obeyed at all times. Even though this is a law that takes away from the rights of every citizen it must be obeyed; If not you become guilty of everything it was designed to stop. Although, if all of America sa...

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Alien And Sedition Acts

    486 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Patriot Act violates many of the amendments in the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment, for example, gives American citizens freedom of speech, press, and religion. The Patriot Act allows the government to monitor the religious and political papers and institutions of citizens that are not even reasonable suspects for criminal activity. Church,

    Read More

  • Resistance to Civil Government: Thoreau

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    The title is an important aspect that should be considered and not misinterpreted. When this essay was first published it was under the title “Resistance to Civil Government”. The resistance in his title is later used as metaphor that compares the government to that of a machine. The machine is producing injustice therefore he says “If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth — certainly the machine will wear out.” He furthers this metaphor by saying “Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine.” After the death of Thoreau his essay was retitled “Civil Disobedience”. For the purpose of this essay civil is meant as “relating to citizens and their interrelations with one another or with the state”, and therefore civil disobedience stands for “disobedience to the state”.

    Read More

  • The Night Henry David Thoreau Spent In Jail

    376 Words  | 1 Pages

    injustice to another, then I say, break the law." This shows Thoreau’s policy of civil

    Read More

  • 2001 USA Patriot Act is Unconstitutional and Ineffective

    2102 Words  | 5 Pages

    While this act made legislative changes that increased surveillance and the investigative powers of law enforcement agencies to protect America from further terrorist acts, the passing of the USA Patriot Act has reduced the privacy rights of Americans and also does not provide for a system of checks and balances that safeguard civil liberties. Terrorism is a serious matter that should not be handled lightly, but the act has gone over the top in trying to stop terrorism. The USA Patriot Act, enacted for protecting America from further attacks, not only does little if anything to protect Americans, but rather undermines their civil rights. The Patriot Act targets not only terrorists, but also the American people which it intended to protect.

    Read More

  • Comparing Martin Luther King Jr. And Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau in his essay “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau asserts that men should react from their conscience. Thoreau believed it was the duty of a person to defy the law if his conscience says that the law is unjust. He believed this even if the law was made by a democratic action. Thoreau

    Read More

  • Civil Obedience And Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    Civil Disobedience occurs when an individual or group of people are in violation of the law rather than a refusal of the system as a whole. There is evidence of civil disobedience dating back to the era after Jesus was born. Jesus followers broke the laws that went against their faith. An example of this is in Acts 4:19-20,”God told the church to preach the gospel, so they defied orders to keep quiet about Jesus,” In my opinion civil disobedience will always be needed in the world. The ability to identify with yourself and knowing right from wrong helps to explain my opinion. Often in society when civil

    Read More

  • The Patriot Act vs Civil Liberties

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    “We have to make a balance between security and civil liberties.”(Sensenbrenner 2). The patriot act was passed with very little congressional debate. The public was unaware of its passing. Our security is over protective because rights are being broken. Our rights should matter more to the government because the security is overprotective. Is the patriot act too harsh and invading our privacy?

    Read More

  • Terrorist Attach and The USA Patriot Act

    2177 Words  | 5 Pages

    ... punish those responsible for the attacks and to protect against any similar attacks” (Doyle, The USA PATRIOT Act: A Legal Analysis, page 2). Sense the new laws were out into effect, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding it. Several questions have been posed as to whether or not the Act was giving too much power to government law enforcement. With the law now leaving room for open investigations, spying, and even wiretapping, people are wondering if things have been taken too far. Interest groups fighting to protect our civil liberties are arguing that we have passed the point of keeping our country safe from outside terrorism, but are now compromising our basic civil rights as Americans, and as humans for that matter. Although many revisions have been proposed, the USA Patriot Act still stands, and continues to raise question to the governments authority.

    Read More

  • Henry Thoreau And Nationalism

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nationalism, mostly used as to describe the pride towards a country, has always played a central role by authors to describe governments and its roles. Henry Thoreau, who was thrown in jail for not paying taxes, questioned the idea of true nationalism and his idea of government. Thoreau views the government as a nationalistic entity, and people are not taking actions to protect the government from the majority power. He believes that many people should speak up their opinions and go against the corrupt government. Thoreau applies the modes of persuasion to motivate minorities to take action against the majority and promote his idealistic government: the laissez-faire government and the government that minorities can speak freely.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Henry Thoreau: Resistance To Civil Government

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Henry Thoreau’s essay, Resistance to Civil Government, the harmless actions he takes to rebel against the government are considered acts of civil disobedience. He talks about how the government acts wrongful such as, slavery and the Mexican-American war. This writing persuades Nathaniel Heatwole, a twenty-year-old college student studying at Guildford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, to take matters into his own hands, by smuggling illegal items on multiple Southwest airplanes. The reason in that being, is to show the people that our nation is unsafe and dangerous. In doing this, he takes his rebellion one step too far, by not only jeopardizing his life, but as well as many other innocent lives.

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience: Henry David Thoreau

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was a philosopher and writer who is well known for his criticism of the American government during the time. During Thoreau’s life, there were two major issues being debated in the United States: slavery and the Mexican-American War. Both issues greatly influenced his essay, as he actually practiced civil disobedience in his own life by refusing to pay taxes in protest of the Mexican War. He states that the government should be based on conscience and that citizens should refuse to follow the law and has the duty not to participate and stay as a member of an unjust institution like the government. I argue that the notion of individualism and skepticism toward government is essential in the basis of many important reform movements in the modern society.

    Read More

  • Comparing Letter from a Birmingham Jail and Civil Disobedience

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...goals, they both discuss similar topics of morality and justice under a government’s rule. In hopes of informing and motivating people, Thoreau and King explain how and why these people should take non-violent action towards unjust laws. From each author’s vivid examples and brilliant analogies, we learn the importance of fighting for justice and maintaining morality. Most importantly, Thoreau and King argue in favor of civil disobedience not only to inspire a fight for freedom from the government, but also to ensure that the people’s God given rights and rights to individuality are preserved for generations.

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Justification of Defying Unjust Laws

    1828 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thoreau believed that when people disobey unjust laws, that will help change the laws to make them just...

    Read More

  • Essay On The Patriot Act

    2034 Words  | 5 Pages

    Now, many have had time to reflect back on the Patriot Act and feel differently (Ball 2004 p. 78-84). The Patriot Act Pros and Cons is a topic that is much like a double-edged sword. On one hand, many people feel they would like to be protected and feel that they will give up some rights to be safe. Others, on the other hand, feel that the Patriot Act goes against the U.S. Constitution and actually takes away some of the rights of American citizens.... ...

    Read More

  • Thoreau's Civil Disobedience and Walden

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American philosopher, author, poet, abolitionist, and naturalist. He was famous for his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, and his book, Walden. He believed in individual conscience and nonviolent acts of political resistance to protest unfair laws. Moreover, he valued the importance of observing nature, being individual, and living in a simple life by his own values. His writings later influenced the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, he advocated individual nonviolent resistance to the unjust state and reflected his simple living in the nature.

    Read More

More about Henry David Thoreau and the Patriot Act

Open Document