Henry David Thoreau's Analysis

They say money drives the world, however may the world be driving the money? Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817. He wrote many famous pieces, Civil Disobedience stands out for its steadfast statements and theories on the government machine. Notably where he writes “Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue; for money comes between a man and his objects, and obtains them for him; and It was certainly no great virtue to obtain it” (Thoreau 231) stands out due to its factual way of explaining how the more money one has the less quality in character he/she has, Because with more money it is easier to obtain objects rather than working for them. Thoreau's statement hold true to reality in examples such as money corruption in government, making an individual's character to
The constant expenditure of the government even with the deficit is astonishing. “The refusal of many federal employees to fly coach costs taxpayers $146 million annually in flight upgrades” (Heritage.org), is a prime example of unnecessary spending. “Among the abuses was a Defense Department employee who spent more than $100,000 on 15 premium tickets citing a medical condition that required the upgrade” (usatoday.com) that's an incident that took place in 2007, yet events similar to this are still prevalent today. Furthermore “The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually not to farm their land” (Heritage.org) That amount of money to be spent on such an asinine reason illustrates the truth in Thoreau’s assertion. Some would argue that the spending being done by the government fuels the economy and even creates jobs. That maybe true in some instances, for example the military industrial complex or public works projects however most of the unnecessary spending seen is truly unnecessary and it doesn't help