With Thoughts of Emerson and Thoreau

I think of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau often these days. I think about them, in part, because I live on a farm in an area where solitude and contemplation are encouraged by the seasonal attires of the shrubs and trees, where listening and receiving are buoyed up by the counterpoint renditions of the birds and critters, and where transcendence and consciousness of unconscious processes are inspired by the on going discourse among the branches, the leaves, the breeze and all the other living things. Life is a dance of lives here; it is harmonic motion in great big circles of cycles internal and external to me ― simultaneously! It is love, and my love for nature, and my love for the awakenings that nature brings into my thought, my feelings, and my soul ― at my invitation ― unconditionally! So it’s easy and comforting in these instances to think of Thoreau’s Solitude, Ponds, Spring, Walking, Wild Apples, Autumnal Tints . . . and Emerson’s Nature, The Transcendentalist, Spiritual Laws, Friendship, Circles . . . as my “transparent eyeball” becomes stronger and more precise in its evolution, brought on by this place, where fact and feelings are inseparable, and science and spirituality are made to coincide. Yes, it’s easy to think of Emerson and Thoreau on my farm, because there is a great deal of tranquility and peace in its setting. And I can transmit my consciousness beyond certainty and rationality into the unexpected and unforeseen and unverifiable journey of self beyond self.




Yet, there is another reason I think of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, and this reason if far more practical and pragmatic than the previous one: Essentially, Emerson and Thoreau truly understood the dynamics of human behavior. They understood it so well that their ideas have become axioms that are as true today as they were during their lifetime. And whenever I see the evidence, the axioms come rushing to my mind.


For example: Every day we hear of government officials, congressmen, senators, presidential candidates, and candidates for other offices who are being forced to conform to their political party’s ideology ― even when they strongly disagree. Every day we see citizens being forced to conform to governmental policies ― even though they believe the policies to be incredibly wrong. Every day most of us experience some form of pressure to go along with something, with witch we disagree. At times like these I usually recall one of Emerson’s axioms: “The virtue that is in most demand in American society is conformity.”


Henry David Thoreau, however, is the one whose works is most relevant to present day politics. In one of my favorite essays, Civil Disobedience, he stated that “Government is best which governs least. As a matter of fact,” he said, "government is best that governs not at all.” Because when governments function the way they should, he suggested, they simply act as helpers or support systems that enable the citizens to live their lives, raise their families, earn a living, and worship in the faith to which they belong. "However,” he said, “only a few governments do this some of the time. Most governments don’t do this at all, for a very simple reason: Some men (just a few) know that the citizens will always feel obligated to obey the law ― even when they disagree with them. So the way these men choose to manipulate the citizens is by passing laws, knowing that the citizens will feel that the have no choice but to obey the law.” Thoreau pointed to slavery, an event that occurred during his lifetime, as an example of this.


Today, when I think of conceal carry of fire arms, voter ID, limitations on public employees’ collective bargaining powers, limitations on the individual rights to seek justice against corporations . . . I think of Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience.


From the looks of things, I believe that I am going to be thinking about Emerson and Thoreau for many years to come ― and for both reasons!