When comparing Civil
Disobedience by Thoreau to Machiavelli’s The Prince, there is no correct answer as to which is more
rational. Both of them share their
outlook on the government; however, they both have their differences in their
opinions. For starters, Thoreau is
talking to the bystanders telling them to act against the government he calls
“the machine.” While Machiavelli
is talking to the princes, advising them on how they should run their own
governments. So we can already see
that they are opposites just from labeling their audiences. Furthermore, due to Thoreau’s use of
language and unrealistic style of living life, Machiavelli’s style of
government will be better because of the fact that it is realistic and
truthful.
Something important to notice is that both Machiavelli and
Thoreau focus greatly on the relationship between people and their leaders. Machiavelli focuses on how a leader should act towards
his subjects, and Thoreau writes about how an individual should react to a
corrupt leader. These concepts are
in great contrast to each other; Machiavelli believes that a ruler may do whatever
is necessary to remain in power, whereas Thoreau would not hesitate to spend a
night in jail if he disagreed with a tax.
However, it is important to realize that not everyone is as brave as
Thoreau, so this might be unrealistic. Machiavelli writes, “Thus no prince should mind being called
cruel for what he does to keep his subjects united and loyal.” This quote reflects
his very elitist views; as long as it is for the good of the country, the
outcome justifies the cruelty.
Sometimes cruelty needs to be practiced in order to maintain
stability.
Thoreau believes that men and women should act upon their
morals and principles… to “let your life be a friction to stop the machine,"
–- the machine being a metaphor for a corrupt government. While this is a great theory, I
think that it is slightly unrealistic.
No one wants to be the one to
stand up against a machine. The idea
of fighting for what you believe in looks great on paper… but, unfortunately,
the truth is that when the opportunity is given to do so, most of us will back
down out of fear. Machiavelli talks
about the power of fear; he says “fear preserves you by a dread of punishment
which never fails.” His theory is
essentially that, by establishing the fear of punishment, a prince is able to
maintain an orderly government without injustice. That being said, his
presumption is more realistic than Thoreau’s because fear can control
people. An example of this is when
Ms. Parham used a Machiavellian-style of teaching the other day, and not one
person stood up against “the machine.” ( :D
) That is because our fear of
punishment controlled us, which is the same way men and women would act under a
Machiavellian-style government; orderly.
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