Henry David Thoreau's The Duty Of Disobedience

Henry David Thoreau wrote prominently about the importance of a working democracy

and advocated for equality among all citizens. In The Duty of Disobedience, he states,

There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all of its own power is derived and treats him accordingly…A State which bore this kind of fruit and suffered to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State, which also I have imagined, but not yet anywhere seen (Thoreau 83).

Thoreau imagines that if the state were to recognize all individuals as equal, there would be no need for rebellion or revolution, but wouldn’t the state need to assert dominance over its people to maintain order? The state would never allow every individual to have an equal amount of respect and
The idea of the utopian world that Thoreau fantasizes about has remained a matter of fiction because of the extreme lengths that people will go to in order to gain a position of high authority. Countless rebellions and revolutions had to occur to maintain liberties and constitutions present today. Convincing an individual in power to restrain themselves from the use of oppression to obtain complete control and order over a nation would also be nearly impossible since it is human nature to want to maintain dominance. Thoreau’s ideal utopian world would be extremely difficult to attain because of the power struggle present between human begins. It is an individual’s primitive instinct to survive, and to do so they must possess power and strength. Thus, leaders will never allow the general public to attain enough power that can be used to undermine their authority, and Thoreau’s proposition will remain a