Civil Disobedience

Thoreau writes of how in some cases practicing civil disobedience is necessary if a law or institution is unlawful or unfair. In regards to when it is necessary, I can think that it would only be necessary if a law or institution was especially unfair to one or more groups of people, or was unlawful in nature.

One example of where it was completely justified would be in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, where thousands of Warsaw citizens and the Polish First army rebelled against the Germans and fought them to a standstill until the Rebels eventually relented. The poles, led by Zygmunt Berling disobeyed and rebelled against what they saw as a tyrannical and unlawful occupation by the German forces.

Fighting for several months, the Uprising was eventually ended when German Reinforcements, including the infamous SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlwanger, Led by Oskar Dirlwanger, arrived and led numerous massacres against the populace, eventually burning a large portion of the city.

This is an example of justified civil disobedience. Seeing something that was subjugating the populace, and disadvantaging millions, they Polish Forces chose not to obey such illegal laws and instead chose to disobey and rebel.

Thoreau

"That Government is best which governs least." These were some of the first words in Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" Thoreau believed that in many cases that, similar to the theories of Emerson, the Government, and society in general was there to put down individualism and breed conformity. Wanting to "Live deliberately" Thoreau put his money where his mouth was in regards to his theories, and went off and lived in the woods for a year.

He also writes in "Civil Disobedience" that a citizen should not follow unjust laws. He follows through with this philosophy by refusing to pay poll taxes.

Emerson

In self reliance, Emerson writes of how society works against the individual and punishes individualism as a whole, writing that, "Society everywhere is in a conspiracy against of every one of its members...Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." Writing that conformity undermines people's virtues and that, to be a man one must be a nonconformist, despite what society might say in response.

Once again in Self Reliance, Emerson writes, "Trust thyself: Every heart vibrates to that iron string."

Meaning that one must rely on, and trust themselves and conduct themselves according their own selves. Marching to the beat of their own path, and making way for themselves. Directly displaying the title of, "Self Reliance."

In nature, Emerson writes, "I find something more dear and connate...especially in the distant line of the horizon man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature." This shows his optimism and love of nature. The way he describes the beauty of it also coincides with the somewhat to the idea of isolationism, the idea that one must remove oneself to find happiness, which in turn has its roots in Buddhism.

Finally, Emerson's intuition is show quite clearly when he writes about isolation. He understands that one is never truly alone when one is in the city, but only when one has cut themselves off from society as a whole. This is shown in the entirety of "Nature."

The Roots of Transcendentalism

The Age of Faith (or, Puritans being jerks who didn't know how to let loose)

During the Puritan "rule" on america, conformity was the majority. As we have seen from the salem witch trials, those who refused to adhere to the boundaries of conformity were accused, imprisoned and some were even executed. These ideas led to the age of Reason.

The age of reason was less about nonconformity, and more about following the ideas of reason and logic. While this was a big step, transcendentalism was born out of the ideas of the age of Faith, and the age of reason. Rebelling against the ideas of the age of faith, and embracing some ideas of the age of reason, Transcendentalism was born.

Richard Proenneke

The Ultimate Transcendentalist

Living freely, and in a way that he wanted, Proenneke lived in a remote cabin for 30 years, only returning to visit relatives and to resupply.
Alone in the Woods

Like in Walden, Proenneke describes many of the reasons for his isolation as the desire to simply work hard and get away from common things, stating, "Needs? I guess that is what bothers so many folks. They keep expanding their needs until they are dependent on too many things and too many other people... I wonder how many things in the average American home could be eliminated if the question were asked, 'Must I really have this?'"

As Thoreau said in Walden, "I went into the woods to live deliberately." While these differ slightly, they are very close to the same reason.

In "Civil Disobedience" by Thoreau, he writes, "The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to at any time what I think right."

While Proenneke never did any over the top "civil disobedience" he did follow the words of Thoreau in a way. In this quote, and quite a bit of the rest of the text, Thoreau writes about how the individual should make their own decisions without the government or society telling them what to do. Well Proenneke went into the woods, by himself, living by his own rules, for thirty years.