Henry David Thoreau: Examples Of Transcendentalism

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Henry David Thoreau, perfected the philosophy of transcendentalism and is the most famous example of transcendentalism . although he was not the founder, the credit for that goes to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Transcendentalism had its beginnings, as a protest against the general state of culture. The main theme of transcendentalism is : individuality 1 , practicing non-conformity 2 , carpe-diem 3, love of nature, and utopia 4 .

This essay chiefly focused on the ideas of individuality and practicing non-conformity, but we will tie in some of the other aspects. This is a quote from Thoreau that really encompasses the two beliefs of individuality and nonconformity, If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears
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In Germany, hitler indoctrinated the German people to believe Jewish people were the cause for their economic problem. Well, fast forward the perpetuation of this led to it becoming common belief which led to the most disgusting atrocities in history, “The final solution”. In our day and age, I believe we are too politically correct and this leads to inequity and division of all people. We are constantly censored by popular society on what we can and cannot say to avoid offending anyone. This type of censorship is almost a form of totalitarianism, if you really go by what society says you can and cannot say. Society wants you to leave race, religion, heritage, etc out of what you say and if you really think this is the type of censorship coming out of countries like China or North Korea who do not have the right to free speech. When we talk about our race or religion or our heritage it helps us connect, it helps us learn new things about the other, it enlightens us to learn about our differences and similarities .5 Political correctness makes it taboo to talk about what makes you, you. You as a person are made of many different aspects, but if you cannot talk about these things, (examples above race or religion or heritage) these are three are the biggest part of who you are. Let me crystalize what I am saying, Race is a fact of who you are, Race does not define you as a person, but to