Essay on The Political Thinking and Influence of Henry...

The Political Thinking and Influence of Henry David Thoreau The extent and nature of Henry David Thoreau’s commitment to social reform has long been a matter of debate among scholars. Drawing on his well-know disdain for organized politics and his focus of self-reform, some have observed that Thoreau was no social reformer (Goodwin 157). On the other hand, such major anti-slavery statements as Civil Disobedience, Slavery in Massachusetts, and A Plea for Captain John Brown, have been seen as evidence that Thoreau was deeply engaged in the most important moral and political issues or his time (Harding 418). How can Thoreau the solipsistic hermit for whom the government is best which governs not at all, (Thoreau 1792) be†¦show more content†¦Recognizing that the slave power had now become aggressively active and threatened to dominate the entire Union (Gougeon 201), Thoreau decided to withdraw his support from a government which allowed this to happen, stating: I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my g overnment which is the slaves government also (1794). As a result of not paying his poll tax, Thoreau was arrested on July 25th, 1846 (Rosenwald 154). His essay, Civil Disobedience, originally delivered before the Concord Lyceum in January of 1848 as a speech entitled The Rights and Duties of the Individual in Relation to Government (Gougeon 201), expresses the various political circumstances and convictions which culminated in Thoreaus now famous, and very influential, one night sojourn in the Concord Jail. In order to better understand Thoreaus stance towards the State in Civil Disobedience, it is important to understand something of his universal view: As Richard Drinnon observes, The kernel of Thoreaus politics was his belief in a natural or higher law (127). Transcendentalism, to which Thoreau subscribed, is characterized by a belief in moral and other universal truths, and a faith in the individuals ability to intuit those truths (Abrams 326). Thoreau, in particular, believed that the individual discerned those truths or moral laws throughShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Henry David Thoreaus Civil Disobedience1432 Words   |  6 Pages Civil Disobedience or originally known as â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government† is one of the most known essay written by Henry David Thoreau. Published in 1866, it was written shortly after Thoreau spent one night in jail due to not paying a poll tax. Outraged by been imprisoned Thoreau wrote the essay to slam the government on m any of the issues that were occurring at the time, some events like the Mexican-American war and slavery were the two major targets he bashed as he was opposed in goingRead MoreHenry David Thoreau And Ralph Waldo Emerson1604 Words   |  7 Pagescomes from and unemployed writer who lived alone in the woods and refused to pay his taxes.† (The School of Life, par. 1) Henry David Thoreau reminds us about the importance of simplicity, authenticity, and downright disobedience. Born July 12, 1817, just west of Boston in Concord, Massachusetts, his father operated a pencil factory and his mother rented rooms out to boarders. Thoreau graduated in 1837 from Harvard College, but did not take on assumed careers in law or medicine, he went on into educationRead MoreHenry David Thoreau Was An American Author, Philosopher,928 Words   |  4 PagesHenry David Thoreau was an American author, philosopher, poet, and abolitionist. He was well known for his essay, â€Å"Civil Disobedience†. His essay criticized the American government for starting the war against Mexico. In fact, his essay demonstrated that Thoreau was an individual who opposed against the government’s influence over the citizens of the United States. Thoreau thought that the United States would benefit without the government getting involved. In fact, the author expressedRead MoreRomanticism Vs Transcendentalism795 Words   |  4 Pagescontrast, and some that may complement. Within the era of the growing movement, many arose to challenge the norms, bringing controversy with them. Transcendentalism, a theory that characterized by spiritual thinking, protected intuition from societal pressures in a time period that valued logical thinking. Politics in the Transcendental era were often disregarded, the Transcendentalists believed that if one were to allow themselves to focus on the current politics, their path of development may falter.Read MoreTranscendentalism in Civil Disobedience3710 Words   |  15 PagesRe(dis)covering America: Emerson, Thoreau, and American Democracy 10 April 2012 Transcendentalism in Civil Disobedience Thoreaus Politics of Individuality and Nature Dannheisig 2 Contents Introduction 1. Transcendentalism a. Nature b. Introspective Conscience and Politics 2. Political Individualism a. Ethical and Political (In)justice b. Critique of Democracy Conclusion Bibliography 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Dannheisig 3 Introduction Henry David Thoreau was part of a movement calledRead MoreComparison of Civil Disobedience Essay3692 Words   |  15 PagesComparing the Civil Disobedience of Martin Luther King Jr., Henry David Thoreau, and Mohandas Gandhi   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the onset of man fighting for freedom or his beliefs, the question has always been whether one person can make a difference using words rather than wars. Philosophically, the concept of civil disobedience would appear to be an ineffective weapon against political injustice; history however has proven it to repeatedly be one of the most powerful weapons of the common man. Martin LutherRead MoreAnalysis Of George Orwell s Shooting An Elephant 1886 Words   |  8 PagesVolatile Times In the 1800s, shortly before Congress passed the second Fugitive Slave Act, an abolitionist named Henry David Thoreau published â€Å"Civil Disobedience.† Being an opponent of the Polk administration, and more specifically the Mexican War, Thoreau wrote â€Å"Civil Disobedience† as a way to persuade his fellow citizens to follow their morals and values rather than falling victim to the Federal government’s ideologies and beliefs. Furthermore, â€Å"Civil Disobedience† challenged its readers to â€Å"defyRead MoreAmerican Renaissance (Literature)1541 Words   |  7 Pagesthe other hand, declared that slavery was responsible of the Souths comparative backwardness. From the middle of the 1840s the question of slavery was the gravest problem in America. The South, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River, was a political unit which agreed on all fundamental policies in connection with cotton culture and slavery. The professional classes and most of the clergy now no longer apologized for slavery but defended it. They insisted that the relations of capital and labourRead MoreMaslow s Theory Of Hierarchy2417 Words   |  10 Pages As human beings, we struggle to better ourselves in an attempt to live fulfilling lives. Central to this fulfillment is getting as close as one can get to a situation of freedom. For Thoreau, freedom equates to living with the bare necessities of life: food, water, shelter etc. Furthermore, an individual is free when he/she is self-reliant, authoring a world of their making with little to no dependence on external institutions to direct their actions. How is this possible? Under Maslow’s theoryRead MoreReligion and Individualism3105 Words   |  13 Pageslives. We can see how various writers, politics and painters talk about religion and express it in their works. In this paper such values as religion and individualism will be analyzed, through the words of Emily Dickinson, Abraham Lincoln, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emily Dickinson, an American poet, was brought up in a prominent family, which raised Dickinson to be a cultured Christian woman who would one day be responsible for a family of her own. Her father attempted to protect

Budget Free Essays

What are the macroeconomic effects of the budget proposal Movements and shifts of the curve 7. Conclusion 9 8. References O 5. We will write a custom essay sample on Budget or any similar topic only for you Order Now 2 . 6. 2 The first part of the assignment discusses the economic principles and criteria for a assessing a good budget proposal for any country. Section 3 discusses macroeconomic objectives of a budget, role of government and how it intervenes, tools available to government and the practical considerations (lags in the effects of fiscal policy) The next part of the assignment the team selected the 2009 South African budget proposal and listed all revenue and expenditure proposal 2. What is a budget proposal Bedpan describes a budget as a â€Å"blueprint† for the nation, expressing the objectives and aspirations for the present and future for by the party in power. Mohr describes the budget is an instrument of the fiscal policy and determines the level and composition of government spending(G) and taxation(T). The Keynesian school of thought proposes that fiscal policy to be the most instrumental policy to influence total spending or aggregate demand (AD). He lists the four functions of the budget as: Used to decide priorities Serves to evaluate specific public programmed, reviewing the state’s activities annually used to increase economic growth and impact on development A system of accountability and controls over government officials and agencies, setting limits on their activities and safeguarding against corruption Obedient four groups of people involved in the national budget of South Africa and their roles in brief with regard to the budget are listed in the table below: The cabinet Controls the most critical decisions on the allocation of public funds Civil servants Play supporting roles by providing information to politicians responsible for decision making Members of parliament Acts as the defender of the public interest through its constitutional right to question reasons and feasibility Of each aspect Of the budget The public Through organizations like Noose, interest groups, community based organizations and other bodies provide the voice of all members not directly involved in the budget process 3. Assessing government budget proposal 3. 1 Economic principles and criteria of good budgets The first step in determining economic principle and criteria for good budgets involves identifying what the budget proposal should achieve in terms of macroeconomic objectives. Mohr et al lists the following as the main macroeconomic objectives that can be used to judge a good performance of the economy: Economic growth Full employment Price stability Balance of payments (or external stability) Equitable distribution of income Efficiency T. Manuel in delivering his 2009 South African Budget speech , emphasized the following five principles: Protecting the poor Sustaining employment growth and expanding training opportunities Building economic capacity and promoting investment Addressing the barriers to competitiveness that limit an equitable sharing of opportunities And maintaining a sustainable debt level that would not constrain our development tomorrow Mohr recognizes that the free market system allocates resources in the best possible way. However he also acknowledges that at times market failure occurs where the market system does not achieve efficient allocation Of resources. The market systems failures occurs in the following cases: Monopoly and imperfect competition Public goods Externalities Asymmetric information Common property resources Moor’s summary of government’s role is summarized on the table below: Role Aim Allocation function Correcting market failure and achieving a more efficient allocation of resources Distributive function Achieving more acceptable distribution of income Stabilization Promoting macroeconomic stability 3. 2. 1 How does government intervene The table below shows the five intervention options and examples of each that the government can use to achieve the above roles: Intervention Examples Public provision of goods and services through ownership or financing National Defense, hospitals, Eskimo, prisons Becoming a market participant Through price stability, income redistribution, Government spending Transfer payments to change income distribution Taxation Personal Income Tax Regulation Labor laws, competition policy, anti-tobacco laws 3. Practical considerations: Lags in the effects of fiscal policy Recognition lags Implementation lags Response lags (603,608) Therefore a good budget takes into cognoscente the macroeconomic objectives, address issues relating to market failures and takes steps address the needs of society and the scarce available resources. A good budget should also take into considerations the effects of lags in typefaces policy. 4. 2009 South African Budget proposal The group selected the 2009 South African Budget proposal. The budget speech was delivered by the Finance minister Mr.. Tremor Manuel on the 1 lath February 2009. The table below is a list the budget revenue and expenditure proposals: Budget revenue proposals Budget expenditure proposals Taxes on income and profits Source: National Treasury 2009 Budget Review Statistical Table 2 and Table 3 5. Theory on economic principle of equity As stated in the preceding section, tax is one Of the instrumental tool available to government to achieve its roles of allocation and distributive unction’s mainly through taxation. The criteria for a good tax proposal is that it must meet the following conditions: Neutrality Equity Administrative simplicity We now focus our attention and evaluate tax relief with reference to the criteria of equity. Case and Fair refers to equity as fairness. Under this principle tax burden is distributed fairly. Two theories of equity or fairness exists. These are : 15, 16, 17 Benefits-received principles Ability-to pay principle 381 Under the benefits-received principle, taxpayers should contribute to overborne in proportion to the benefits they receive from public expenditures. This theory of fairness does not receive popular support as it is not possible to determine the value that taxpayers receive from public expenditures. The other theory of taxation, ability-to pay principle states that taxpayers should bear tax burdens in line with their ability to pay taxes. 5. 1. Discuss vertical and horizontal equity. 17 In terms of tax revenue collected by government, horizontal equity relates to the concept of tax neutrality. It defines that the tax system should not criminate between similar things or people, or unduly distort behavior . Len other words, the people with a similar ability to pay taxes should pay the same or similar amounts. Vertical equity usually refers to the idea that people with a greater ability to pay taxes should pay more. However, to those that believe in a flat tax, the idea of vertical equity could mean that the rich should not be punished for their success by paying higher taxes than others. How to cite Budget, Papers

It seems so long ago now, since the mischievous days of mid

It seems so long ago now, since the mischievous days of mid-primary school Essay It seems so long ago now, since the mischievous days of mid-primary school. Since the days I never did homework, and was ever so surreptitious to avoid getting caught à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" well trying to anyway. And the days when my little ploys of forgetting to have done homework, were discovered in the most humiliating of ways. There was on specific day this happened, I can vividly remember. It was grade 3, half way through primary school, a time I never contemplated high school or my future, a time when the concept of homework was a joke. Like the facetious Hyena, I was in hysterical laughter at peoples earnestness toward school. But life is not without karma, as I now understand the importance of homework and schooling. Today school is about ENTER scores and getting A+. Back then it was about staying away from the Goodie, Goodies, who would always have the homework completed for question time the next day. Goodie, Goodies to us little blokes, were usually girls in the class, or a boy we considered to be a girl à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a pussy. Why is it that the majority of human beings have a lackadaisical approach to school? All those cliched comments like I hate homework or school sucks big time man, reinforce a wide spread inclination to not do homework. Is that what it is, or is it all about image and ego to us blokes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" earnestly trying to avoid the dreaded label: Goodie, Goodie. It is therefore not half-obvious why schools such as Camberwell Grammar experience horrific cases of school bullying. Occupied with maintaining our tough image, we little tackers never took heed to these important issues. Nor did we take heed to doing homework. During grade 3, our Math homework became accustomed to rotting away at the depths of our school bags, along with the mould ridden sandwiches and three-year-old bananas. One day judge dread the teacher, was going through the homework question by questionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Math books open at least nights homework in what sounded like a vultures screech. I opened at some pretend page and stayed low key, whilst the teacher mercilessly pointed her finger around the room. It was terrifying as she always seemed to sense an evader in the room à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" her eyes a radar, and her finger a laser, ready to embarrass her victim at any moment. All the Goodie, Goodies held their fingers in the air back at the teacher, which seemed like some tribal link between teacher and Goodie, Goodie à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" it was the Kripendorfs Tribe of St. Josephs primary school. This shanadigens of putting your hand up, always seemed to advantage the Goodie, Goodies, in some way my little mind could never seem to define. Now the folly of a large portion of humans seems clear: in this instance, that I to wanted to have this advantage, but did not want to do the hard work in order to achieve it. And once again Karma prevails: what you put  in, you get out. In juxtaposition between the Goodie, Goodies and the Blokes of the outside world, ironically, it is the Goodie, Goodies who reach the intrinsic happiness that the Blokes always thought they had. Which leads me to the intrinsic question, relating not only to my personal development, but all those who perceive/d themselves to be the elite of their own social spheres as children. Were we little blokes really the coolest group in our class? I am not sure now, those so-called Goodie, Goodies were elite indeed, as they actually worked hard. What was it that made us so hostile toward them? Why did we resent the label, Goodie, Goodie, they seemed to bear so proudly? Was there jealousy within this resentment? Behind the faÃÆ' §ade of being a tough bloke, we seemed to be afraid of the reality, afraid of having to do work, and afraid of the consequences of not doing work. When we got caught, all was exposed for a brief moment of embarrassment for the blokes and satisfaction for the Goodie, Goodies. .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 , .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 .postImageUrl , .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 , .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2:hover , .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2:visited , .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2:active { border:0!important; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2:active , .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2 .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ubdcfb49a121720d0335753df8ce705f2:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Mughal Empire EssayThirty questions that day seemed like thirty years. Julian, question 28, these three damned words, did not quite register at the beginning. Damn, two to go and I was up, not a clue as to what the answer was or how to avoid getting egg on my face. Convulsive nervousness had shut down half of my brain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Oh no, my image of toughness raced through my head à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" I wasnt thinking straight à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" lost for words. Pre-occupied, little did I know that my face resembled those of the English when defeated by Joan of Arc. Nor was I aware that the teacher was behind me staring at some irrelevant work from my English book. I was history, I wished it were History. Consequences, why are we humans are afraid of them? Our folly as human beings seems to be to avoid having to face consequences. We are told never to lie, to tell the truth and it will be much easier à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Good boy, good girl. Is it consequences, or the embarrassment of being caught that we are afraid of? All this seems clearer now: that we must accept consequences as apart of life, and work hard rather than trying to take shortcuts. This was a significant part of growing up: coming to terms with the reality of having to work hard, and the futility of maintaining image amidst the threat of embarrassment.