"The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it" (Thoreau 481). If the masses were to execute all governmental abilities, the likelihood that people would never be placed into oppressive situations is much greater. Thoreau believes that government's show us how men can be imposed on, and even oppose on themselves, for their own advantages (Thoreau 481). The majority of power awarded in America is given to the strongest and richest, not to the masses. How can a country that is supposed to be governed by the masses be so excluded by the elite? If the country were run by the masses would not the people know what would be fair and just? "The mass of men serves the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies" (Thoreau 483). Many of the citizens of this country choose to ignore injustice and ride along with the lies they are fed by its government. In cases of injustice, "Civil Disobedience" is but the only way to conquer it. But the spirit that the people possessed just forty years ago has vanished in the possessions that have become the reason for living.
"Civil Disobedience" involves the action of the people. It can never transpire unless the government's citizens are willing to begin the movement. Action is the most specialized part of any movement that occurs. "What is the price-current of an honest man and patriot to-day? They hesitate, and regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait for others to remedy the evil, they may no longer have it to regret" (Thoreau 484). If a person is unwilling to show action for what he feels is right or wrong and is content with complaining, what is the point of being part of a free institution? "That he not busy being born is busy dying" (Dylan It's ).