Henry David Thoreau

[xd9fan]

Civil Disobedience
by Henry David Thoreau
(1817-1862)

"I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe--"That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which the will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure........"
Western Rifle Shooters Association: Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience"

The standing army is only an arm of the standing government.

I quess this is why I could never stand it when people say that we are over in Iraq to protect my freedoms....
I would always respond "bull%^$t, protecting my freedom, is my responsibility not the Govt's military......they protect something else....take a guess on what you think it is, but my individual liberty is not one of them."

[Prometheus]

In case your wondering why this post made it to page 2 before anyone responded, the message of Freedom and Liberty is being stuff quietly into a box and forgotten. It has to be, it is incompatible with the campaign platforms and beliefs of barak obama and john mccain.

That said, "for every thousand men hacking at the branches of evil, there is only one STRIKING THE ROOT".

[CrAz3D]

Interesting last quote there Prometheus

[AZXD]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

In case your wondering why this post made it to page 2 before anyone responded.

It's because your view settings are limiting what you see.

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/profile.php?do=editoptions
Number of Posts to Show Per Page .... Try 50

[lance22]

I for one think schools need ALOT more Emerson and Thoreau, and alot less Marx and Guevara. Emerson and Thoreau are the best representatives of Classic Liberalism, back when 'liberal' meant to be free of regulation - hence we sometimes say that we want to 'liberalize' gun laws - which is a smart thing to say these days in Academia since all the profs will heartily endorse anything that has the word 'liberal' attached to it. Of course to 'liberalize gun laws' means that you are in favor of de-regulating the whole enterprise. It's pretty funny when you can get the most foaming at the mouth anti-gun prof to agree with your position on guns by using this ploy.

Emerson speaks very well for the position the Thomas Jefferson understood so completely; that government is good in small measure but quickly oversteps it's bounds.