Thoreau's Civil Disobedience is a play that denounces the role of government and promotes the individuality of man. He argues that government rarely proves helpful and that anything achieved under the influence of that government could have been even greater if the system had not been involved, as paragraph 2 shows: "Yet, this government has never advanced any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. This does not keep the country free. This does not solve the West. This does not educate. The inherent character of the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and he would have done a little more if the government had not sometimes gotten in his way. (Thoreau, lines 12-16) He asserts that the American government derives its power from the majority, not from the strongest group, and not necessarily the most moral. Thoreau wants us to believe that we, the people, should follow what we believe to be ethically right, not what the government and the majority impose on us. In my opinion, I agree with Thoreau that we need a more improved form of government, but I disagree with the type of government Thoreau desired. He believes that we work best without restraint and that we must command our individual respect, but I sincerely argue the opposite; a society must have order and infrastructure, we need a system to oversee the problems that we cannot solve as humans with an individual mentality. I do not believe that the government should have the right to interfere in our lives without solid evidence, but I do believe that we need a fair and balanced administration that must look after the well-being of its people. Thoreau emphasizes individuality throughout his tenure. while writing. "Leave... middle of paper... what you can do for your country." (Kennedy, 1961) I believe this statement, spoken by President John F. Kennedy during his inaugural address, is what American life is supposed to be about. We should not focus our lives so vigorously on the benefits of our country, but rather work to provide for the needs of our nation and its proud citizens. We are all individuals and we all have our own beliefs and talents; government is in place to represent our interests and our vision for America, so to achieve our goals we must dedicate our time to our country. Socrates was right when he said that as citizens we must obey the government and if we disagree, then we must work to make change happen for the better. But his strong word choice, “shall,” implies that under no circumstances should we disagree with the way things are run..