POLITICAL THEORY - Henry David Thoreau

[@BigBobsh2o]

Imagine that guy in the modern world. It would drive him nuts.

[@strangersound]

+Rob Ski I am that guy. Yes, it drives me nuts. ;)

[@7876369668]

+strangersound how come you have a computer?

[@BigEvan96]

+Nixon Perez got em

[@kev_klein]

@@7876369668 Because just like any other tool, it's how you use it. After all a computer gives you the possibility to access information like never before in human history.

[@lennon_richardson]

A cabin in the woods is still a cabin in the woods.

[@chrispaquette7513]

My "rebellious phase" was getting into the transcendentalists and going for long solitary walks in the woods. My grades suffered terribly; they had been at honor levels the year before. My mother *hated* this guy.

[@joyfulsavage9905]

Chris Paquette Chris Paquette lmao bruh. My “rebellious phase” was smoking large quantities of weed every weekend and stargazing.. my grades slipped cuz I couldn’t gaf anymore. My conformist styled thinking parents hated that lol

[@GS42SCHOPAWE]

Chris Paquette I think I had a similar phase, I just stopped caring about grades and read Walden in the woods

[@selkeb8419]

My rebellious phase was dropping out of school and getting fucked up on pills and liquor. It was dark times then.

[@aslan9334]

🤣 this is funny truth or not!

[@williamwells835]

What's important, Chris, is that we learn how to live vice 'getting a living' . . . so that we can really get a living.

[@captainpeglegable]

Does anyone here see the irony of advertising "Thoreau inspired gifts" in a video about simplicity? It is as if to say "buy our stuff to escape from materialism"

[@kstone29625]

captainpeglegable tuché

[@sspbrazil]

captainpeglegable yep

[@samuelgoad7320]

I think Thoreau mentioned this directly, he talked about how people buy art that reminds them of nature and simplicity but that "the effect of our art is to make this low state tolerable and that higher one to be forgotten"

[@JM-zo2so]

👏

[@williamwells835]

Simplicity is nothing to be simple minded about. Pols who want to get money out of politics, yet still take it, do so cuz that's the way the system works. Such be the rules of the game; and 'till we reform such imperfect rules, we're forced to play by them. Excuse me if I seem vague, yet I think y'all get my point.

[@scottmorgan8424]

"Insist on yourself. Never imitate." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (from his essay on Self-Reliance)

[@engsaleh8793]

I RESPECT this man A lot

[@iceydaywalker9198]

amazing man and thinker. it's absurd, as well as insulting, that this man's works are not discussed heavily in modern school curricula. not only should they be studied, their implementation should be strongly encouraged. thanks anyway, thoreau.

[@virvisquevir3320]

Ryan Bergen - Postmodernism is more popular because it is more indefinite and you can blabber about it all day - you can even make a whole career about it without coming to any conclusions at all. Thoreau is more definite and after a semester, there is nothing more to say or do but to put his philosophy into practice. Postmodernism doesn't have any practice, it's just an attitude of scepticism towards the value of any belief or practice.

[@thebigbison9949]

The entirety of our semester has been learning about him and transcendentalism, and how apparently... the way to truly discover life is by living in the woods with as little as possible not seeing the value of technology. His words should be taken with a grain of salt.

[@tyrone8867]

My English teacher talks about him a lot. And we are learning about his writing.

[@olitraiga]

@@thebigbison9949 You have no clue what you're talking about.

[@sullivandmitry1416]

He’s a hypocrite and personally I believe he was just a lazy man who refused to do anything worth while accept writing a book about living in the woods

[@Creativelymad]

Henry David Thoreau: the og tiny house enthusiast and minimalist

[@GS42SCHOPAWE]

Thoreau was a genius, Walden still inspires me to this day with its relevant message

[@danielledunsworth9229]

I enjoy solitude in nature too. A small pond in the woods by a tree is my favorite place to sit and read my Bible. I was homeschooled so I got the privilege of doing virtually all my school work in the solace of nature.

[@ChaniagoAbd]

you're so lucky man

[@tedbates1236]

I lived in a little cabin in the mountains for several years. A little creek ran alongside of it. At the same time I was very isolated more than I liked. I prefer the solitude to being in a maddening city as I am now, but I did not like the isolation either. I supported myself with building maintenance contracts with the Forest Service. I am now 65 years old and I have not found the missing link where life is happy except in living to share Jesus with anyone and everyone anywhere and everywhere. I recently bought a book, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. He was a conservationist. I read it in a course on conservation and natural resources and I want to read it again. What I find though is anything that is the most important to you becomes your God. The word worship means worthship what you bestow worth on is what you worship. There is nothing worthy of your worship than your Maker and I am unable to find my purpose outside of the Lord.

[@g1rhines]

"Henry David Thoreau was America's most important anarchist." - Emma Goldman

[@PlainsPup]

I love those paintings by Albert Bierstadt and Caspar David Friedrich. Their art was very much in line with the philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau.

[@colemilne2323]

+The School of Life What is the name of the painting in he bottom left at 4:10?

[@dylanharris5426]

+Cole Milne "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog" by Casper Davis Friedrich, 1818

[@colemilne2323]

Dylan Harris Thanks

[@raphaellm]

Thanks, I was about to ask about the authorship of the paintings.

[@bluzoan]

"That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have." ~ Thoreau Words of wisdom.

[@williamwells835]

. . . and that's when we truly SELF-govern; when each we, most responsibly, learn to govern -- each our own selves . . . and, at that, -- to truly be free.

[@SandfordSmythe]

Works great if your sitting in a shack in the woods.

[@anoitedfighter]

One of my favorite authors. I read him in junior high and honestly he changed my life. He made me consider politics seriously.

[@manifold.curiosity]

Any fool can make a law, and any fool will mind it. - Thoreau Thanks for the video. I think I need to read Walden again... I can only recall the majestic descriptions of nature, and most of the philosophy and civil disobedience has evaporated from my memory. I have a question; in what ways was Thoreau a transcendentalist? His awe at the natural world seems very materialist to me. Unless I've got the distinction wrong, which is very possible :)

[@aperson1234567891098]

The Manifold Curiosity Don't waste your time with Walden. Read Civil Disobedience or Emerson's Self-Reliance if you want to garner anything practical.

[@gunsnroses003cr7]

The Manifold Curiosity Initially I was a bit stuck up as to what the answer might be. Off the top of my head, transcendentalism claims to spirituality in a way that it is beyond the understanding of empiricism or science. Nature is explainable through science but not in the way that Thoreau holds it to be. It is this connection that makes his work a part of the transcendentalist thought.

[@gunsnroses003cr7]

The Manifold Curiosity Initially I was a bit stuck up as to what the answer might be. Off the top of my head, transcendentalism claims to spirituality in a way that it is beyond the understanding of empiricism or science. Nature is explainable through science but not in the way that Thoreau holds it to be. It is this connection that makes his work a part of the transcendentalist thought.

[@ridiculousrusty]

The Manifold Curiosity are you sure you know what you mean by materialist? are you thinking a materialist is one who likes objects, "things"?

[@gunsnroses003cr7]

ridiculousrusty Exactly. Thank you for reminding me. There are two different materialisms. The first one strictly holds that matter is the fundamental unit and all that exists is only physical (including emotions etc). The other one, that is the economic materialism which is concerned with objects of everyday life and excessive need for consumer goods. That's just an overview.

[@happypedro12]

This guy would have been all over the tiny house market

[@ronalddauro563]

I suggest he pioneered it .

[@altruex]

My thoughts exactly. But i was thinking, we’re living the same realities he had faced that forced him out to the woods. May we learn from him now in our current context.

[@altruex]

@Thomas Ahn i think it more about being able to think critically about the lives we live

[@davidfaguaja9052]

but now with all he internet to isolate is more difficut

[@bushmg1061]

Ted Kaczynski might give him competition

[@marcin170697]

I find Thoreau as another inspirational figure. I agree with his thoughts on us looking at the nature as being part of the nature, rather feeling being a master of nature. There are still being more powerful than us.

[@AmnesiaWins]

Spinoza, Thomas Paine, Keynes and Nozick among many would be great additions to this wonderful channel of ideas

[@MonkeyBurrito]

Adam Wingardh I would exclude Keynes.

[@Venusbabe66]

Thank you for reminding me why I've always loved Thoreau and why I love his legacy even more now. Brilliant mind! Wish there were more like him... way before his time. I wonder what he'd make of humanity now?

[@TimelyStefan]

Thoreau would be fascinated but disgusted at our modern time, no doubt.

[@bolivar1789]

Watching this great lesson, I remembered an old cowboy song I love! It goes like this: My ceiling is the sky, my floor is the grass, My music is the lowing of the herds as they pass; My books are the streams, my sermons the stars, My parson is a wolf on his pulpit of bones. And if my cooking is not so complete You can't blame me for wanting to eat. But show me a man who sleeps more profound Than the big puncher-boy who sleeps on the ground. My books teach me ever consistence to prize, My sermons, that small things I should not despise; My parson remarks from his pulpit of bones That fortune favors those who look out for their own. By the way if you enjoyed this beautiful lesson, you may want to see the movie " Into the wild" too. The boy in the movie is reading Thoreau all the time. ( He also reads Tolstoy and Pasternak) It is based on a real story. Directed by Sean Penn. No happy end, but it shows you an honest, brave, well lived life. Better the end be bitter, rather than the entire life. (To listen to the song just search for Carl T. Sprague - The Cowboy! )

[@virvisquevir3320]

Lua Veli - Thank you, Lua. What a great lesson. Sums it up beautifully.

[@virvisquevir3320]

Lua Veli - Here's the song The Cowboy by Carl T. Sprague: kzbin.info/www/bejne/imimZISHl9V-d8k

[@bushmg1061]

“Water, fire, air and dirt, fucking magnets, how do they work?”

[@bolivar1789]

@@virvisquevir3320 Hello there! I am so sorry for writing back 3 years too late!!! But notifications of youtube often don't work and I saw your message just now as I came back to this video. Thank you so much for your time and for the link! Best wishes :- )

[@phmagnani]

So true and so prophetic....it´s like if he was forseeing our modern society and the internet...

[@lacamila666]

I remember the first time I read him, it was civil disobedience and I felt really seen, I kept absorbing his work and journals and I think I can say that I love him. I completely agree with everything he wrote and If I had a time machine I would give him a visit in his walden cabin. So grateful for his existence.

[@keenanburkepitts]

God, I respect and admire this guy.

[@dkyimhere3126]

ohmygosh this man gets me. i could not understand how i am the way i am, but knowing someone like him EXISTED and have written pieces BEFORE me (like everyone on the internet right now) just makes the puzzle fit altogether. so im not the only one, Thoreau is the other.

[@phnglikheng]

Being in our modern world is driving all of us nuts. we can only sense this overwhelming suffocation to be busy and in action when we take a breath and reflect "what's the purpose of all this activity?" I spent about a year in the depth of Nature and continue to go home to it 3 days a week at Kechara Forest Retreat the past 2 years. Nature is a remarkable classroom for discovery of the magical works of life and personal growth. Thanks for this video!

[@Rajj854]

Had no idea that the idea of civil disobedience was promoted by Thoreau. I always ascribed it to Mahatma Gandhi

[@Rajj854]

+slade Kayastha 'ascibe'??

[@borgestheborg]

Yep, Gandhi read Walden and was profoundly inspired by it.

[@amansaxena1976]

I love how the guy from "Wanderer above the sea of Fog" pops up at almost every Romanticism reference in their videos. Keep up the good work School of Life. - Big fan.

[@hammeringhank5271]

Probably my favorite philosopher

[@Nialive_]

Weird how life has come full circle. Refused to read and fully comprehend his writings in school. Currently reading Walden out of school and actually enjoying it

[@stephentucker6892]

I agree 100% with simplifying your life if your into that. It's very peaceful but there is a fine line here of actually wanting less, and just being lazy. It's actually MUCH harder work to he self reliant. Been at it for 10 yrs and still learning. Gardening, fire wood, etc etc. Its hard but very rewarding.

[@FreerunnerCamilo]

5:49 what is happening on the bottom right corner lol

[@milap.1616]

I want to go back in time to give this guy a book "Keep the Aspidistra flying" by George Orwell. It seems to me all Thoreau needed was some loving.

[@SusanHolt-g6u]

Please remove the image in the last 3 seconds at the bottom right to make this video classroom appropriate.

[@FreerunnerCamilo]

bruh right what is that lmao

[@DevonMiniFlicks]

Where's your classroom Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea?

[@DavidLittrel-ph4ez]

True wealth is a question of how well one can cope with not having much at all.

[@ryanchandler6310]

Thoreau has, and always will be, my most favorite philosopher. While I look up to Nietzsche and Plato I always felt I was looking at Thoreau. He's helped me in a lot of ways. I met a good person, now my friend, who was more a an Emerson guy but not that it mattered much we got together one Saturday and cut a path out into the forest behind my house where we built a small twig shanty by a brook. We talked about life and what not and nothing compared to that day, not my music, not my love life, not my achievements. That's my testimonial really, although I don't know how Thoreau would feel about me using a computer to record it. Haha, oh well. Thanks for this video, by the way, I've been looking forwards to it since I first started watching. Anyone else have a Thoreau moment in their lives? I'd like to here that.

[@encyclopediapierciana6815]

Brilliant as usual! THis guy is almost as brilliant as his subject-- one of the leading lights of our US history, and needed more than ever today, on the brink of extinction! Congrats to all!

[@GCsinger]

This blew my mind. I may have found a new source of inspiration. I need to read his stuff, thank you School of life!

[@royferguson3909]

just found your comment, totally understand totally agree took me 55 years to find this guy ☮

[@jacoboribilik3253]

Bunch of filthy hippies ungrateful for the huge accomplishments of mankind. It's rather ironic you gained acces to Thoreau's works through the very means he dispised.

[@ozjaszrurkowski2478]

Self-relience? I might be wrong, but from what I remember he relied on nearby villagers for food while at the same time critisizing their way of life.

[@247lethal]

Ozjasz Rurkowski Yes he criticized their way of life, but part of the point is that people rely too much on the rest of society when certain things are easier and more valuable to do yourself. You'll find in Walden he lists the receipts of everything he purchased during his time there and even occasionally had people over to visit.

[@Bhatt_Hole]

dats wot i luv bout dat dawg! take from dem bitches, DEN TALK SHYTE bout they dum azzes!! wEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[@OrionNebula_M42]

This video is the only reason I passed my social studies class in freshman year of high school

[@pendejo6466]

I might be wrong, but the "insist on yourself, never imitate," is a line by Emerson (from Self Reliance), not Thoreau.

[@Bedoyyk55]

Pendejo so is the quote about the coach and our feet

[@daviddawson1718]

With these two there is no way to tell who first thought or said it, only who published it first.

[@MrSuperbluesky]

was not a hermit friends visited brought news papers and books and his mom often brought him lunch

[@bza069]

+Doug bananaboy haha so true man!! yes, i learned he often made trips to general stores and had his family close by for creature comforts. He was only partially secluded.

[@sofirueda1]

Yes, exactly. He wanted a simple, self-reliant life, but not to be completely away from society. Just to be less distracted.

[@importantn1301]

Even in Walden he often writes about his talks with locals and his visits to the near village. There are passages about his regular talks with visitors. He really wasn't the hermit the mainstream wants him to paint as😂

[@clotildevivier8650]

Been meaning to read Walden for ages. Am definitely going to get on that now. I love everything about this

[@sandeepkamboj7675]

his thoughts are very similar to Buddha

[@kstone29625]

3X4 meter cottage. ... Perfect size, although it does have a UNIBOMBER feel to it. I guess a minimalist wouldn't mail a typewriter and get on the 10 most wanted list.

[@expandingelectrons347]

seems like taoism to me

[@I_have-the_fear_in_me]

yes transcendentalism reminds me of common eastern philosophies.

[@joyfulsavage9905]

It’s all the same shit guys 👌🏼

[@tntl6201]

He was inspired by the Bhagavad Gita à Hindu religious text. I have the audiobook on my channel

[@annasarkisian853]

Thoreau actually didn't write the quote at 2:34. That came from the essay "Self-Reliance" by Emerson.

[@TheResidentSkeptic]

I've had Walden on my bookshelf for 4 years and haven't read it yet. Thanks for the inspiration, I'll get on it.

[@typedef_]

Speaking of Walden, I have to recommend the movie "Upstream Color". You won't regret watching it.

[@typedef_]

@KonicavaBR You should let others decide that.

[@typedef_]

@KonicavaBR Why don't you inspire people to transcend and leave my movie recommendation alone ?

[@typedef_]

@KonicavaBR And you feel the need to correct my actions because you get a sense of greatness. Good for you ! The problem is I still highly recommend the movie. So now what ?

[@TheOfficialGuyFieri]

Lol xD ride my rocket ship ~C======================================3

[@mariopichardo376]

Great job, I came here not knowing much about Thoreau, now I feel like I know hi well and have much respect for the man. Thanks!

[@CORBARocks]

Just read 'Civil Disobedience' in the bath. Amazing!

[@danielrivera9788]

A Guru in Krishna consciousness said of the Bhagavad Gita “this book was read by Thoreau, Emerson and Einstein” I see the connection !

[@valeriekramer7046]

This gives credit to Thoreau for Emerson's work. "Insist on yourself; never imitate," is from "Self-Reliance" by Emerson.

[@pinkringo222]

i always choose him when asked to name one person dead or alive to have dinner with. he's a great personal inspiration to myself!

[@mbeining11]

I watch this channel on a daily basis. easily one of my favorite and most important channels on KZbin. the writing, the tone and voice: incredible. well done to all involved in this incrediballs sharing of exposure.

[@ingenuity168]

The original minimalist. Very relevant to our present times.

[@VikrantDuttChaudhary]

"The best way to understand ourselves is to see us as nature looking at nature". How profound, how wonderful... :-)

[@niteshmurti]

Zomg! these videos have changed my life. thanks school of life!

[@raffaojeda]

i like the way he thinks, how he feels, the way he reacted , his way of living..

[@gavinhudson5251]

I think I like this guy. It sounds like he might have been the father of the small house movement.

[@cooldallasshields3439]

I read Concord and Merrimack River (will read Walden and Civil Disobedience soon) and was mesmerized by all the little details in life that just aren't noticed and/or appreciated nowadays. It was a beautiful piece of fresh air, and a great addition to my view on life.

[@SandfordSmythe]

These nature details used to puzzle me, such as the depth of water in different parts of Walden Ponds. But now I can appreciate them.

[@marcusjose241]

Thoreau's ideas were way before his time. I admire his philosophy about nature and self reliance.Thoreau, along with Freud is what i call true humanist.

[@ericward8459]

This. Dude. Rules!

[@odemata87]

one man is not an island. The factor of family plays a great role in your being and becoming since you didn't independently spawn into being

[@And3aPet]

I don’t think I’ve ever read Civil Disobedience but now I think I will. Thanks for the mini course on Thoreau’s life.

[@TheGerogero]

These videos are wonderfully produced.

[@michaelberger4738]

Pretty good summary, but best to drop the “hermit” moniker. He was never a hermit. Even when he lived alone at Walden Pond, he saw friends and family regularly.

[@mehmetakgul6982]

Hello, first of all, it is a clearly informative video about Thoreau whose ideas have fascinated me much and I’d like to say that the term “self-reliance” and some quotations such as “insist on yourself, never imitate” and “the civilized man, has builded a coach and lost the use of his feet” belong to the literary text “Self-reliance” written by Ralph Waldo Emerson not Henry David Thoreau. Thanks

[@Donnjap444]

Favorite philosopher

[@SumanKumari-hw9ir]

"But maine to Texas may be, have nothing important to communicate" That really struck deep

[@altruex]

Didnt realize Thoreau had this much impact on such powerful people in history.. wow

[@j.w.8352]

there are probably not too many philosophers out there whose significance increases year by year like thoreau's.

[@thewolf1801]

God bless Henry David Thoreau

[@albertovasile3966]

It's uncanny how much his words, two centuries ago, sound true. I wonder what he would have thought or said, seeing our world

[@shuaijan28]

Chris: Wow, Stewie. That was beautiful. Did you write that?

[@aressshams2084]

this is helping me do my homework so thank you

[@fear598]

"The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet." - Ralph Waldo Emerson not Thoreau

[@m3jri]

0:23 He wasn't an unemployed writer. He was a free writer! ;)

[@sudevsen]

The line about using others to full gaps in oneself is very true for most people

[@TheBeatleboy64]

Such a beautiful quotation about the woods. Always reminds me of Dead Poets Society!

[@aslan9334]

My sister had to read this book in high school and as always i would grab whatever she was reading and read it myself - i end up ❤ it!

[@tedbates1236]

Some 45 years ago I was a young student at UC Santa Cruz. While in the library I read something Thoreau wrote about the Christian faith. I was not a believer at the time. So without studying Thoreau I consider him a fool because he was against the faith that I now know to be the truth.

[@jacobbartram5202]

noam chomsky pls

[@jc3teacher265]

I like this! Thoreau ruled!

[@k8fromthekosmos676]

love the graphics!! you do such great work!!

[@Terry14.88]

please make a Lysander Spooner video. Thanks I just found Your channel , Love it!

[@TheaYsabelle_design_music]

had to do walden for a paper in humanities.. classmates hated it but i knew there was something about thoreau.. relying on no one but myself has always been my belief

[@perpetualpolymath5961]

When watching your videos I'm quiet surprised that i had no prior knowledge to the existence of such philosophers, thank you for your videos.

[@robstephen2306]

"Insist on yourself (I agree as far as don't conform blindly to peer pressure of cultural materialism), never imitate"

[@JapanJohnny2012]

This wonderful "School of Life" channel is easily my second favorite source of philosophical insights, delivered in a melancholy, yet warm and wise tone, here on KZbin. My number one favourite is Murun Buchstansanger ;)

[@titteryenot4524]

Along with Emerson and Whitman, this guy is the writer/philosopher/poet most in accord with my own weltanschuuang. All three are gloriously quotable. Here’s my top ten from Thoreau, in no particular order: 1. *The question is not what you look at, but what you see.* 2. *The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.* 3. *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.* 4. *You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.* 5. *If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.* 6. *Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.* 7. *I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.* 8. *The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.* 9. *Things do not change; we change.* 10. *A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.* Like stars in the firmament, there are countless others, he is that quotable. Perhaps after all, this is my all-time favourite: *I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.* 🥸

[@crisisofdemocracy8940]

This is more of an emphasis of reformation on unjust qualities of the state, rather than the application of skepticism towards social hierarchy. So, how exactly is this anarchism?

[@barabaramoo]

Somehow knowing that Ralph Waldo Emerson was friends with Henry David Thoreau makes my OCD brain satisfied.

[@carolinareguerofullier6595]

Gran intuición la de Thoreau al vaticinar cómo desenvolverse amablemente con la vida a través de la naturaleza. La autoestima alta y una mirada curiosa son armas válidas para conseguir objetivos. Gracias por compartir tan interesante video. ¡FELICITACIONES!

[@thegoodlydragon7452]

I've been to Walden pond on multiple occasions, living not that far from it. But I didn't know the historical significance. Thanks for the video.

[@alaneduardomarisco6248]

excelente as always, congratulations for all of you from The School of Life involved in the creation, editing, data compilation and the entire artistic part of the video.

[@Frisbinator]

Dude, he only lived in the woods two years on land someone else had purchased and regularly went into town, hosted people passing by and worked hard farming, don’t make it out to be as if he lived alone in the wilderness because he didn’t

[@amerikangerillasnnkoseyazl1496]

thanks for choosing Thoreau. ı read Walden years ago.It teaches respect for freedom and nature.

[@philippedoreau4798]

Inspiring philosophy

[@flash522gp]

Many thanks - A very compelling and thoughtful introduction to Thoreau, a few Monty-Python-esque visuals notwithstanding!

[@aureliansmask3502]

I love this guy. I am also a primitivist who believes that society needs to revert back to earlier values and ways of living. I believe the ideal world is one where we have classical values of honor, spiritual fulfillment, and true love while also having modern advancements like medicine and egalitarianism. So basically 19th century japan but with modern medicine and equality.

[@vladthe3rd414]

Well how far back do we need to go then to find this so called era where everyone had values and were living life the right way? People these days say we need to go back to the good ol days, but here we have a guy in the 1800's who was saying that people in his time needed to go even further back! Seems like there is discontent in every generation and there is no such thing as the mythical 'good ol days' but rather people not coming to grip with there own place in the world, preferring that the world change to suit them rather then change themselves.

[@aureliansmask3502]

@@vladthe3rd414 Its not about "Good Ol' Days". There is no era we can go back to where we have an ideal reality. People don't accept the world because it has its problems in every era. Primitives don't want to just go back to the 1700s or something. We find good things in the modern world that we wish to combine with the conditions of older eras. For example, penicillin is awesome, but so would a world where we had only small scale industrialization. Thoreau criticized the apathy of his time towards slavery, bigotry, nature, and spirituality. Those are valuable lessons to learn from Thoreau. There were no perfect "Good Ol' Days", but there were aspects of life that were far better in the past than they are now. We ought to combine the best of the past and present to build the best future

[@JABAT0MAN]

you really really have to do one Political Theory of Bakunin or Kropotkin

[@lorezzoalbaniny1258]

You can learn a lot about history by looking at the history of ideas

[@joshuaronisjr]

There are some schools that teach like that, instead of studying for example the history of the United States, or the history of World War 2, they'll get the idea of a country and explore it throughout time, or the idea of war and explore it throughout time. I think it's a much better way to learn, because at the end of high school I'm not going to remember all the names of people and the dates of events, but if I learned that way then I would have a better idea of history in general.

[@RubbleByte]

This man was the Fred Rogers of his time. He believed in solitude and true peace but also to socialize with dignity and respect people’s beliefs.