Thoreau

[ExUnoDisceOmnes]

What do you guys think of Henry David Thoreau? He strongly supported civil disobedience and was frequently called an anarchist. I've read Walden, and I'm almost certain that he wasn't an anarcho-primitivist as many claim so... what are your thoughts on the man?

[#FF0000]

I never heard the primitive thing but he definitely had an individualist streak. I like him, though. I aspire to live alone in the woods and not pay taxes just like him one day.

[ExUnoDisceOmnes]

I never heard the primitive thing but he definitely had an individualist streak. I like him, though. I aspire to live alone in the woods like him and not pay taxes just like him one day.
What I like about him is that he isn't as... overtly revolutionary. He rejects authority and writes brilliantly about it, but it is easier for the average (non-communist/anarchist) person to read and agree with than the inflamed rhetoric of many revolutionary writers. It reaches a wider audience.

[Drosophila]

I admire Thoreau greatly. However, I complete disagree with the claims that he was an anarcho-primitivist or luddite. He did not want to force his lifestyle upon the rest of humanity.

[Bud Struggle]

I kind of think he's like me.

I'm a Catholic.
I'm a Communist.
I own a factory or two.
I like my Polish tradition.
I lile the American way of life.
I love my wife and kids.
I find a magic about CotR.
I'm Bud Struggle.
Don't like it?
Sue me.

[#FF0000]

I'm a Communist.

Finally made the jump?

[Bud Struggle]

Finally made the jump?

I'm a Communist, always have been. I'm just not a Nazi about it.

[Dean]

I'm a Communist, always have been. I'm just not a Nazi about it.

Not like the NazBols, right?

[Klaatu]

Thoreau was a pragmatist. The thing I remember most from his book, was the fact that most people are slaves to fashion. And his observation that if a man ripped his pantaloons, he may have well have had his leg cut off, for all the distress and humiliation it would cause him in front of his peers (don't recall the exact quote)