6A. "Economy" from Walden (1854) by Henry David Thoreau

 Thoreau's One-Room Cabin at Walden Pond (replica)

Click here for the full text of "Economy."

Read from the beginning of the chapter until you reach the end of the paragraph that ends with this line: "Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high."

1. [Thoreau's rigid criticism on the operations of society] is demonstrated in statements such as, “The luxuriously rich are not simply kept comfortably warm, but unnaturally hot; as I implied before, they are cooked, of course a la mode … When a man is warmed by the several modes which I have described, what does he want next? Surely not more warmth of the same kind, as more and richer food, larger and more splendid houses, finer and more abundant clothing, more numerous, incessant, and hotter fires, and the like,” where Thoreau shines a light on the consumer-focused lifestyle present in a capitalistic society, which breeds individuals, or collective classes, who exist to consume, and then once a resource has been exhausted, the objective remains to consume that which has not yet been attained—in particular, the attainment of property, which thus opens one up for the opportunity to expand their capital, and never cease expanding.

2. Thoreau seems to [argue] that it should not be our goal to increase our ‘status’ in life, but to decrease our needs. This final conclusion is supported by his fire analogy, wherein he describes a quote from Darwin;“Darwin, the naturalist, says of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, that while his own party, who were well clothed and sitting close to a fire, were far from too warm, these naked savages, who were farther off, were observed, to his great surprise, ‘to be streaming with perspiration at undergoing such a roasting’” (Thoreau). Again, this supports the idea that seeking to increase material or ‘profit’ status and wealth (the utter goal of capitalism, which has profited massively from the use of slavery) as opposed to a decrease in our most fundamental needs to live, only negatively affects us in the long run. He further gives length to this narrative and describes fire as “at first a luxury, [later] arose the present necessity to sit by it” (Thoreau).

ConsiderMarxism and Romantic skepticism about civilization's progress as competing paradigms for describing "progress."

3. In the chapter "Economy," Thoreau says, "I would rather ride on earth in an ox cart, with a free circulation, than go to heaven in the fancy car of an excursion train and breathe a malaria all the way." By this, Thoreau means that he would rather live simply and freely than be rich and enslaved by a shallow society. He writes that, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." He claims that most people are caught up in vain and monetary values causing them to be spiritless on their journeys. He is saying do what makes you happy, not what makes you money. The issue is that you usually need money to do the things that make you happy. One cannot simply go out and claim a piece of land to build his happy little farm upon. No, he has to have money to purchase the land, and then he has to have money to build the farm. But to this, I think Thoreau might argue, "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone." I guess this means the happier you are without things, the richer you will spiritually be.

Consider Thoreau's practical advice to those who say you "cannot simply go out and claim a piece of land to build his happy little farm upon."

4. This excerpt kind of reminded me of “Life in the Iron Mills” by Rebecca Harding Davis, especially when Thoreau writes “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.”. Throughout the excerpt, Thoreau speaks of the conformity of societal life and life as a laborer. Thoreau also says “Some of you, we all know, are poor, find it hard to live, or sometimes, as it were, gasping for breath. I have no doubt that some of you who read this book are unable to pay for all the dinners which you have actually eaten, or for the coats and shoes which are fast wearing or are already worn out, and have come to this page to spend borrowed or stolen time, robbing your creditors of an hour.”, which also reflects “Life in the Iron Mills” and the idea that you are, in a way, owned by your occupation. The idea of “borrowed” or “stolen” time from your job is also reflected in today’s society, as many jobs only see you as an employee void of life outside of work.

Consider: Do Davis, Alcott, Thoreau, and Douglass agree with Thoreau that the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation? Do they agree on who is responsible for this? 

5. . ..many people are afraid of change, and would try to argue that change is not necessary. Thoreau counters, “This is the only way, we say; but there are as many ways as there can be drawn radii from one center. All change is a miracle to contemplate…” (925)

6. Thoreau lays out the details of his two year and two-month excursion of minimalist living in his self-built cabin. This was more of an experiment to see if he could live in such a way than some means of telling others they should live the same way. After all, he said in the first paragraph that he is “a sojourner in civilized life again.” He does not claim to reenter civilization because some ideal was proved wrong, but rather defends his experiment throughout this text. Though what Thoreau did was an experiment, it was based on an ideal: men should not live beyond their means, and he should only work for what is necessary. As he says, “Most of the luxuries, and many of the so–called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.”

Consider: Is Thoreau's ultimate goal to lead a simple life or is it to elevate "mankind"?

7. There were many references that made little to no sense, but maybe they would have during the time? For example, Thoreau uses this quote, “Deucalion and Pyrrha created men by throwing stones over their heads behind them:—Inde genus durum sumus, experiensque laborum,/Et documenta damus qua simus origine nati.” This might as well be [G]reek (well, Latin I guess) to me. I do not know who Deucalion ot Pyrrha are. I dont understand the quote either.

Immediately after this quote, Thoreau makes another reference. He says that someone names Raleigh (who I can only assume is a poet) “said in his sonorous way,— ‘From thence our kind hard–hearted is, enduring pain and care,/Approving that our bodies of a stony nature are./So much for a blind obedience to a blundering oracle, throwing the stones over their heads behind them, and not seeing where they fell”.

While I can actually understand what this one says, I am still unsure where it came from, or what readers of the time would have gleaned from it. 

From the Norton Anthology:  "According to Greek mythology, Deucalion and Pyrrha repopulated the earth by throwing stones behind them over their shoulders. The stones thrown by Deucalion turned into men, and the stones thrown by Pyrrha turned into women" (921)

The lines from Raleigh are a translation of the Latin lines which are taken from Metamorphoses, by the Roman poet Ovid (43 B.C.E.--18 C.E.) and translated by Sir Walter Raleight (1554?-1618) in his History of the World.

The significance of these lines is suggested in the very sentence that precedes them, in which he refers to the lives of young men who inherit "farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools" and soon find themselves to be "serfs of the soil": "It is a fool's life, as they will find when they get to the end of it."