amorphous_constellation
Well-Known Member
"I tried to help him with my experience, telling him that he was one of my nearest neighbors, and that I too, who came a-fishing here, and looked like a loafer, was getting my living like himself; that I lived in a tight, light, and clean house, which hardly cost more than the annual rent of such a ruin as his commonly amounts to ; and how, if he chose, he might in a month or two build himself a palace of his own ; that I did not use tea, nor coffee, nor butter, nor milk, nor fresh meat, and so did not have to work to get them ; again, as I did not work hard, I did not have to eat hard, and it cost me but a trifle for my food ; but as he began with tea, and coffee, and butter, and milk, and beef, he had to work hard to pay for them, and when he had worked hard he had to eat hard again to repair the waste of his system, — and so it was as broad as it was long, indeed it was broader than it was long, for he was discontented and wasted his life into the bargain ; and yet he had rated it as a gain in coming to America, that here you could get tea, and coffee, and meat every day. But the only true America is that country where you are at lib- erty to pursue such a mode of life as may enable you to do without these, and where the state does not endeavor to compel you to sustain the slavery and war and other superfluous expenses which directly or indirectly result from the use of such things."
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden; or, Life in the Woods . Boston, Ticknor and Fields, 1854, pp. 221-222
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Having now read thoreau, I feel the need to conclude that process with another thread.. He wrote many things I didn't fully understand , as the style is far too thick .. but a couple of his riffs seemed clear enough
And I agree with with various criticizers who said he was arrogant (like in this passage, toward the working class) and contradictory , but he made a few sub-points that one might ponder on a bit, or are interesting in the historical context
In the above two sentences from thoreau, I think we might identify a certain narrative in nascent America which failed to fully mature. And that is, that you can't really disconnect from other people , as you are born to be a social node, bridging together people; owing them what you must , and collecting from them for services rendered. And per capitalism , you must compete with them as well , and as we heard from Biden the other day, we must even compete internationally
I'd call Thoreau's sentiment a libertarian one , and was close to doing this, but I think it falls short of even being that. For to we moderns, the libertarian mode is often is framed as a way to enhance growth and competition , which Thoreau wants none of , in this particular statement.
But the striking thing about this passage , is that it probably will resonant with modern people, even though it is 170 years old, and even if it's from a world of general privation , such as common death from tuberculosis. The man , for all his flaws, still saw it all as being too hive-like.
But the nation doesn't really like the idea of hermits , or other modes where you connect only nominally to the greater social environ. To be a hermit or traveler seems only nominally acceptable. You certainly cannot build a cabin where you please , which overlooks some pristine lake somewhere, unless you are a millionaire.
Thoreau only could do this, I think , because capital value was not fully applied to property and material. His American world was totally alien to ours in some ways , and he was able to slip through the cracks , by luck of being being born in a certain part of history
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden; or, Life in the Woods . Boston, Ticknor and Fields, 1854, pp. 221-222
--
Having now read thoreau, I feel the need to conclude that process with another thread.. He wrote many things I didn't fully understand , as the style is far too thick .. but a couple of his riffs seemed clear enough
And I agree with with various criticizers who said he was arrogant (like in this passage, toward the working class) and contradictory , but he made a few sub-points that one might ponder on a bit, or are interesting in the historical context
In the above two sentences from thoreau, I think we might identify a certain narrative in nascent America which failed to fully mature. And that is, that you can't really disconnect from other people , as you are born to be a social node, bridging together people; owing them what you must , and collecting from them for services rendered. And per capitalism , you must compete with them as well , and as we heard from Biden the other day, we must even compete internationally
I'd call Thoreau's sentiment a libertarian one , and was close to doing this, but I think it falls short of even being that. For to we moderns, the libertarian mode is often is framed as a way to enhance growth and competition , which Thoreau wants none of , in this particular statement.
But the striking thing about this passage , is that it probably will resonant with modern people, even though it is 170 years old, and even if it's from a world of general privation , such as common death from tuberculosis. The man , for all his flaws, still saw it all as being too hive-like.
But the nation doesn't really like the idea of hermits , or other modes where you connect only nominally to the greater social environ. To be a hermit or traveler seems only nominally acceptable. You certainly cannot build a cabin where you please , which overlooks some pristine lake somewhere, unless you are a millionaire.
Thoreau only could do this, I think , because capital value was not fully applied to property and material. His American world was totally alien to ours in some ways , and he was able to slip through the cracks , by luck of being being born in a certain part of history
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