What We Can Learn From Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was the quintessential rugged individualist, yet he also had the mind of an ivory tower academic. He avoided hard work, yet wrote essays that influence American culture to this day; he inspired Martin Luther King and Gandhi to lead peaceful revolutions. Thoreau’s criticism of the government and his call to patriotic rebellion are as relevant today as ever, as the United States steadily creeps toward fascism.

Though his political essays are brilliant, Thoreau was a philosopher rather than a politician. As a student at Harvard, he excelled in his studies of Greek, Latin, German, and philosophy. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

“He was well versed in classical Greek and Roman philosophy, ranging from the pre-Socratics through the Hellenistic schools, and was also an avid student of the ancient scriptures and wisdom literature of various Asian traditions. He was familiar with modern philosophy ranging from Descartes, Locke and the Cambridge Platonists through Emerson, Coleridge, and the German Idealists, all of whom were influential on Thoreau’s philosophy. He discussed his own scientific findings with leading naturalists of the day, and read the latest work of Humboldt and Darwin with interest and admiration.”

After he graduated, Thoreau met Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famous writer and transcendentalist. Emerson’s friendship influenced Thoreau’s philosophical beliefs, and therefore his writing. As a transcendentalist, Thoreau was more concerned with spiritual matters than practical ones. For that reason he was drawn to “pure” philosophy rather than “applied” politics.

Walden, an early environmentalist manifesto, is considered Thoreau’s masterpiece. Emerson owned secluded property in Massachusetts, where he allowed Thoreau to live according to his idealistic philosophy. This gave Thoreau plenty of time to reflect and write.

Thoreau valued independence, solitude, and simplicity, which he wrote about in Walden. He also appreciated the beauty of nature and believed humanity should treat the natural world with reverence long before environmentalism became trendy. He believed people lose vital aspects of themselves within social groups. As he wrote in Walden:

“I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will….Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other.”

Thoreau’s individualism formed the basis of modern American culture. Even now, America is classified as an “individualist” nation while Asian, Hispanic, and most other cultures are “collective,” meaning the group is considered more important than the individual. The work of the transcendentalists initiated the concept of individualism.

Valuing the individual higher than the social group gives significant power to the average person. This “power of one” concept inspired great changes in American society, making us the freest nation in history. Walden proves that one person with a great idea can indeed change the world.

America’s Extreme Individualism

Literature is able to provide a more accurate portrayal of history than the history books themselves…because literature is written during the present time, about the present time, without attempting to capture the essence of the past from a removed perspective.

After Emerson, Henry David Thoreau applied the new individualism to rebellion against the government, in a radical new way — with nonviolent protest. In the same vein as Emerson’s extreme individualism which had no respect for community or tradition, Thoreau extended this suspicion of the status quo to the government. With similar disregard that Emerson had toward established traditions, Thoreau described the government as “half-witted…timid as a lone woman with her silver spoons, and that it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost all my remaining respect for it, and pitied it.”

A collective culture would more likely respect and submit to the government; only a radically individualistic mindset would consider the individual above the ruling powers.

In a sense, American individualism had gone full circle, from the Puritans collectively rebelling against the government to Thoreau individually rebelling against the government, and encouraging others to do the same.

Currently, individualism in America has taken new forms. Children are told to “chase their dreams” and “follow their hearts no matter what,” though this philosophy has led to rampant drug usage and sexual promiscuity in recent times as young people take the advice of their parents. People often speak their minds tactlessly, at the expense of respect for others, especially online; many people brag and exaggerate their accomplishments, seeking attention daily on websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Individualism is a powerful philosophy that works well insofar as establishing freedom in society….However, extreme individualism has led to self-absorption and disregard for others. According to Mount:

“Nothing is more American than individualism. Clinton Rossiter even charges that we have made a fetish of it. Yehoshua Arieli, in contending that the concept is ‘virtually of purely American origin,’ is not ignoring the fact that the term was brought here from Europe; he means that, more than anywhere else, individualism took on distinctive meaning and central importance in America. As Robert Bellah has observed, the term had negative connotations when it was coined in Europe in the nineteenth century, and socialism had the positive associations. In this country, though, individualism ‘resonated so much that was latent in American ideology that it rapidly became the positive term.'”

Though there are other individualistic cultures, American culture contains a unique and quite extreme form of the philosophy, rooted in transcendentalism. America’s rebellious spirit has a positive side, yet many social problems have been caused by individualism as well. Perhaps not all tradition is ignorant; perhaps caring about more than just ourselves would benefit not only the community, but — ironically — ourselves as well.

The Virtues and Vices of Individualism

Ralph Waldo Emerson is the original thinker behind transcendentalism, and by extension postmodern American culture. According to Robinson, “His legacy has long been claimed for American culture as a whole.” “Nature,” an essay that praises the value of the natural world, completely changed American thought. Within the first paragraph, Emerson unceremoniously rejects tradition:

“Our age is retrospective….The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs? Embosomed for a season in nature…why should we grope among the dry bones of the past, or put the living generation into masquerade out of its faded wardrobe? The sun shines today also….There are new lands, new men, new thoughts.”

Without flattery, Emerson has no regard for tradition and rejects “the dry bones of the past.” This rings familiar in contemporary American culture. The idea of newer being better contributes to endless consumerism, disconnection from our cultural roots, and perhaps even general disrespect for the elderly.

Emerson considers nature to be entirely for the benefit of mankind, for practical benefits as well as beauty and healing properties. He wrote, “Nature, in its ministry to man, is not only the material, but is also the process and the result. All the parts incessantly work into each other’s hands for the profit of man.” This echoes the way many Americans treat nature today — as a product to profit from, without thought of possible backlash for exploiting the environment we live in.

Emerson also advised retreating into nature to seek solitude, thinking originally, and never yielding to the pressures of society. Many of these ideals are practiced today, though perhaps in a less extreme way than Emerson himself lived them out. Many Americans enjoy camping, and most think of nature as beautiful and refreshing rather than threatening…and though not completely reclusive, Americans value privacy — in contrast to a culture like China, where students’ grades are publicly displayed in the classroom, while students’ grades in America are kept confidential. American education also claims to value creativity and critical thinking, while students in China and other collective cultures learn by rote.

Individualistic culture grants value to every person, and crimes against humanity such as mass genocide seem more likely to occur in collective societies, with the rationale that eradicating certain groups who think differently from the majority would benefit the greater society.

The temptations of an extremely individualistic culture, though, are to become completely selfish to the point of narcissism or even psychopathy, with the belief that oneself is above the rules of civilized society…and this mentality would lead to crimes against others on an individual basis — such as domestic violence, child abuse, drug abuse, and such.

Yet individualism versus collectivism is a false dichotomy; a utopia such as Heaven — since a true utopia is impossible in this world — would have a culture that blends individualism and collectivism seamlessly…a group of individuals living and working together harmoniously, rather than competitively as in postmodern American society.

Heaven would be fundamentally individualistic, I imagine, yet composed of people who operate by love for others and God.

Transcendentalism Began with New Individualism

After Puritanism, transcendentalism became the prevailing American philosophy — and within transcendentalism is new individualism.

Transcendentalism began at Harvard and opposed Puritanism in many ways. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, transcendentalists “were critics of their contemporary society for its unthinking conformity.” Encouraging people to think for themselves regardless of the community’s general opinions is quite the opposite of collectivism.

For transcendentalists, conformity is almost like a curse word; to conform means to be dull, to abandon the true self, and to repress progress — and no one would want to admit to doing any of that.

Transcendentalism became extremely popular in America, and people began to abandon Puritanism in favor of these new ideas. Rather than cooperating in a tight community, transcendentalists encouraged people to seek solitude; rather than perceiving nature as the dangerous, “hideous wilderness” that the Puritans feared, transcendentalists revered nature and attributed healing qualities to it, which is explored extensively in Emerson’s “Nature.” Transcendentalism began the new individualism’s focus on self-cultivation.

Individualism Is Partially Inspired by Literature

Eschewing tradition has long been characteristic of the American way, from the time when the pilgrims abandoned the feudal system of Europe to the present day when young people strive to cover every inch of their skin with tattoos. Americans are suspicious of tradition, yet celebratory of innovation and novelty. In this culture, being unique is valued as much as being hardworking or intelligent, and is certainly considered superior to being meek, timid, or obedient.

This culture of individualism is reflected in American art and literature. The literature serves as a record that documents a shift in the culture, from being quite collectivist at first to becoming increasingly more individualistic, with this trend continuing currently. American values have changed drastically since the days of the Puritans, and the literature both reflects and invokes this change.

Particularly, the works of transcendentalists — beginning with Emerson’s “Nature” essay — served as a catalyst for the great shift in American culture from collectivism to individualism.