-What kind of government does Thoreau feel would be the most just? In this reading, Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, I believe that the kind of government that Thoreau feels is most just is the type where the government has very little control. “…That government is best which governs least,” and “that government is best which governs not at all…” (Thoreau 137). Through this quote, you can see how Thoreau feels. He is saying that a government, in which he would like, has little control and that this government does not make it a point to use that control. This quote can be applied to the thinking of Lao-tzu and how he perceives government and believes that a government needs to give up some control in order for things to fall into place. I understand what Thoreau is trying to say with his two quotes and I agree with him about how government control should be to a minimum. However, when he states that a government should not be governed at all, I believe that, although he does not mean that there should be absolutely no law, but that the control the government has is not to be pushed in the faces of its citizens. The way Thoreau writes can be compared to the issues nowadays and his ideas are still relevant. “It is truly enough said that a corporation has not conscience; but a corporation of conscious men is a corporation with a conscience” (Thoreau 138-139) This quote can still be applied with business of today, and the cutthroat business in which they deal. Thoreau’s ideas show relevance today because he looked at the simple ideas of government and these ideas and issues have not changed over the years because our government is based on tradition. “The American government- what is but a tradition,” (Thoreau 138).






Thoreau, Henry D. “Civil Disobedience.” Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 137-157.