Could Thoreau's idea of a simplistic life work in today's society?

Yes

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by American Citizen

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A simplified (not simplistic) life is actually the only cure for globalization. Thoreau's idea of simplicity lives on with us even to this day. It's the underlying idea, not the practice of living in the woods, that matters.

So, simplify what? It begins with one's sovereignty over one's own mind. If one's thoughts are "cluttered", "jumbled", and formed by external causes, then one's life will be confusing. We're all quite familiar with stories of several people being in the same situation and all having different attitudes. "It was so difficult," says one. "What a miserable experience," says another. "It's a miracle we survived to live another day. I'm so grateful," says a third.

Case in point, the movie "Life is Beautiful". The film writer lived through the Holocaust with one goal in mind: To shield his son from the tragedy. Audiences had mixed reactions. Some were offended that someone could make light of such a devastating tragedy. Others were touched that a father loved his little boy so much that he'd do just about anything to make it bearable.

These demonstrate quality of thought. That was Thoreau's premise. An individual who is thinking is creating his life, so the thought habits had better be aligned with principles. The individual can exist without society, but society cannot exist without individuals. So which is supreme?

Since the individual is supreme, then s/he has tremendous power. It is this very power that is coveted relentlessly by governments, corporations and tyrants. (To get an idea of what I mean by "relentlessly", think Agent Smith in "The Matrix: Revolutions", or the head-banger in the climax of "I am Legend".) Why else would government unconstitutionally take over so many minute details of education; media content and distribution [1]; food production, labeling and distribution [2]; drug regulation; repeatedly engage in election fraud [3]; land, air and natural resources; utilities; communications; transportation; banking, lending, and interest rates [4]; and the list goes on ad nauseum [5].

At the outset, I suggested that simplifying life is the cure for globalization. I'm not suggesting that international fair trade practices are bad; exports and imports are critical to the nation's wealth. But there are entities that are seriously vying for global power through fascist means [6]. And the world's bureaucrats pull many of the strings (but hardly all of them). They are also strung along. So, while we're told that we can't look back, can't go back, can't undo globalization....DON 'T YOU BELIEVE IT. Who changed the world to this? The same power-hungry aristocrats/oligarch s/technocrats/fascis ts who tell us we can't go back. It isn't that we can't slow down to reflect. They don't want us to reflect and investigate what the hell they've been doing. But that stinky cat is out of the bag. We're starting to find out the truth. And from that, we cannot retreat.

It isn't backward in time or technology that anyone with a lick o' sense is talking about. It's back to a sensible and law-abiding government structure that can be kept in check by the citizenry. What's our government's purpose anyway? Well, according to the Declaration of Independence [7], We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable [8] Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Namely, this requires voting out the scoundrels, protesting and boycotting the unlawful activities of corporate, federal/state/local officials. And for the love of all that's good, NOT RELYING ON THE GOVERNMENT FOR SURVIVAL AND SUBSISTENCE. If $100 is already in your pocket, does it make any sense to hand it over in taxes so the government can give you back $20?

Do not take your power of self-determination lightly. You are indeed a power beyond your wildest imagination [9].

[1] Film: "This Film is not yet Rated" http://www.amazon.co m/This-Film-Not-Yet- Rated/dp/B000JGWD64
f ilm: "Orwell Rolls in His Grave" http://freedocumenta ries.org/film.php?id =87

[2] Books: "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan, "You Can Farm" and "Everything I Want to do is Illegal" by Joel Salatin
Films: "King Corn", "Fast Food Nation", "Supersize Me", "Social Entrepreneurs" http://www.pbs.org/f rontlineworld/storie s/socialentrepreneur s.html, "Genetically Modified Foods" http://freedocumenta ries.org/film.php?id =211
Online: National Independent Farmers & Consumers Association www.nifca.org, and ACRES USA http://www.acresusa. com/magazines/magazi ne.htm

[3] Films: "American Blackout", "Unconstitutional", "Unprecedented", "Uncounted", HBO's "Hacking Democracy" http://freedocumenta ries.org/film.php?id =234

[4] Film: "Fiat Empire" http://www.fiatempir e.com/
Books: "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by Griffin, "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" by Ayn Rand (includes amazing article by Alan Greenspan when he was free to speak his mind honestly), "The Road to Serfdom" by Hayek, "Economics in One Lesson" by Hazlitt, and books by Peter Schiff http://www.amazon.co m/s?ie=UTF8&sear ch-type=ss&index =books&field-aut hor=Peter%20D.%20Sch iff&page=1

[5] Library of Louisiana State University list of federal departments, agencies, bureaus. Expand the list and see for yourself whether we have meaningful checks and balances http://www.lib.lsu.e du/gov/index.html

[6] Films: "The Corporation" http://www.thecorpor ation.com/index.cfm? page_id=46,
"Flow for the Love of Water" http://www.flowthefi lm.com/,
"Globalizati on: New Rulers of the World" http://freedocumenta ries.org/film.php?id =175,
"The Yes Men" http://www.unitedart ists.com/yesmen/
"End game" http://www.endgameth emovie.com/
History Channels' "Secret Societies" http://shop.history. com/detail.php?p=682 07

[7] http://www.ushistory .org/Declaration/

[8] Legal distinction between Unalienable versus Inalienable http://www.gemworld. com/USA-Unalienable. htm

[9] Our greatest fear...Marianne Williamson http://www.getreadyf orlove.com/Love%20So urces/ourgreatestfea r.htm

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