Patriotism? The Idea of Patriotism Essay

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The great American writer Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay that has become very well-known called "Civil Disobedience." In the essay Thoreau said "That government is best with governs least" and then he clarified himself by adding: "That government is best which governs not at all." Thoreau admitted that governments need a standing arm, but that is only "an arm of the standing government," he said. But he disagreed in the American army being involved in the Mexican War. Thoreau was an intellectual and a very talented writer, but he was probably not an "average" citizen based on the way he saw American and how he related to the government. There will "never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power," Thoreau said. What he meant by that is after the United States broke away from England, and won the Revolutionary War, the people did not want to be ruled by a central powerful government anymore. The men who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States stressed that the people has a right to redress their grievances before the government, and that everyone had the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Thoreau said that the power and authority of the government should come from the people and the people should be treated with respect. "I know that most men think differently from myself," he admitted, but he went on to say that politicians ("statesmen and legislators") may have "experience and discrimination" and they "no doubt invented ingenious and even useful systems.

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" But though the American people should thank them, they forget that the world is not "governed by policy and expediency." The Constitution, "with all its faults, is very good," said Thoreau, and the law and the courts are "very respectable." But there are "unjust laws" and he wonders, should "we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them?" He was clearly irritated that too many men "think that if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil."

Conclusion:

There are many different opinions when it comes to patriotism, but those who are too extreme and are intolerant of others should tone down their views. And when someone attacks another (like some attacked Obama) because they think they are more patriotic, that is not true patriotism. It is a big country, and there is room for many views of patriotism. Even Henry David Thoreau, whose views are a bit radical, has a right to believe what he believes in. The wars that have been fought and the men who have died for their country were fighting for the rights to have different opinions in a free country. It is interesting that Obama objected to being criticized about not wearing a flag pin, but today he wears one just so he won't be criticized again.

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