Civil Liberties

“The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus,(7) etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others, as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders, serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it. A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be "clay," and "stop a hole to keep the wind away,”

I believe that this passage by Henry David Thoreau in the article “Civil Disobedience” outlines his entire article about why Civil Disobedience is important in some cases. The thought of fighting for justice and freedom is the central idea of Civil Disobedience. I totally agree with Thoreau’s prospective that people who are working so hard for their country get treated like horses and dogs; they are constructed to work like machines. While most of the politicians have no experience on how hard reality is and they make laws that favor themselves.  

There are very few people in the system who tries to do the right things and tries to make proper laws that might favor every citizens but they rarely get approved. This is where protest and Civil Disobedience comes into play. The citizens have to speak up toward harsh law and make changes for all, especially the new generations. People have to earn their rights and fight for Civil Liberties.