"There is a class of persons to whom by all spiritual affinity I am bought and sold; for them I will go to prison, if need be...."-Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is one of my favorite quotes in all of Emerson's essay On Self Reliance. This quote tells how the rich control society by controlling the government and how they control the poor by keeping them poor and essentially deciding what their lives are going to be. This passage alludes to his main point in this essay which is that one must cut their strands with society and rely on oneself, because society is corrupt. While I completely agree with this entire essay, I do not believe that it is healthy for someone to completely cut their ties with society. The main reason why I do not think this is a good idea is because society does control our lives and if we cut ourselves away from it we are either doomed to lives of misery or isolation. Personally, these two things are too high a price to pay; but, at the same time it is society that tells us that living a life apart from society is doomed to misery and isolationism, and it is also society that tells us that we must "play the game" or end up a burnout and bum in the eyes of the rest of society. So, while society is bad in most cases because it is so controlling, we do have the choice to play the game and stay in it, or to cut our lives out of society at the cost of failing in the eyes of the rest of society, which is a good thing.
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I can't say I like the essay as much as you, simply because Emerson has a bad habit of often contradicting himself. However, your point about how one should stay connected to society even though it is fundamentally corrupt is interesting and I see a some merit in that, though perhaps it is a bit too pessimistic.
ReplyDeleteWhat you're saying about how the rich control society by controlling the government is interesting, and I'd have to say that I definitely see where that happens. The people who have the most money can use that money to essentially buy out anyone they want to, and also they can use their money to manipulate the government and make them do whatever they want.
ReplyDeletePetah
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job at making your point. I agree with the idea that society keeps us running for fear of hitting rock bottom. Ofcoarse there are a couple of holes in your post, but ultimately, what you said is what it boils down to.