Reflection Paper Six-Civil Disobedience

"That government is best which governs not at all"

"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."

I chose multiple quotes because i found both of them to be equally important. Thoreau points out that the best government is not one that makes a bunch of laws, provisions, or interferes with your everyday life but rather one that lets the people rule (hence the second quote). The government was made to help execute the people's wishes, however this has proven to be incorrect. Often times the government can be corrupted by its own moral gain and agenda. Rather then looking at the best interest of the people , it looks at the interest of a group of people. Most likely a group that will benefit them (the government) if they help them. 

"But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government"

However Thoreau doesn't want to get rid of the government, or overthrow it , he just wants a better one. One that "respects" [a] man.

Reflection Paper Five- The Seventh of March

The quote i have chosen from this speech was :

"Now, Sir, upon the general nature and influence of slavery there exists a wide difference of opinion between the northern portion of this country and the southern. It is said on the one side, that, although not the subject of any injunction or direct prohibition in the New Testament, slavery is a wrong; that it is founded merely in the right of the strongest; and that is an oppression, like unjust wars, like all those conflicts by which a powerful nation subjects a weaker to its will; and that, in its nature, whatever may be said of it in the modifications which have taken place, it is not according to the meek spirit of the Gospel. It is not "kindly affectioned"; it does not "seek another's, and not its own"; it does not "let the oppressed go free"."

Webster has pointed out the indifference between the North and South about slavery. Listing the views of the North on slavery. He however did not ask the South to abolish slavery but rather the North to embrace the fact that the South had it, to be content with them allowing slavery. I feel that Webster just didn't suggest that the northern's support slavery but almost mocked those who did not. 

I feel the South however reveled in Webster speech, after all why wouldn't they? He supported them. He unconsciously gave them the right to keep using slaves as a tool to their economy, to support it , without reaping the benefits. The North however, at least i believe, was frustrated for many reasons. Some may have believed it was morally wrong, while others may of thought slavery to just be, inefficient for the South's progression.

This speech makes me question possible influences Webster had. Whether it was beneficial or not towards slavery, i personally think it was another set back.

Reflection Paper Four-"Revisiting the Constitution: Clarify What’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment" by Rachel E. Barkow

"Sometimes prison sentences -- even the most severe -- are a rational response to crime. But often, sentences are the product of a political process in which politicians are scared of appearing soft on crime so they do not even question the reasonableness of a proposed criminal law. It is the norm, not the exception, for politicians to reflexively push for harsher sentences without considering empirical evidence about what level of sanction is necessary for deterrence or what impact a sentence will have on communities. It is an environment long on rhetoric and short on reflection.

The Constitution has failed to check this pathological process. The Eighth Amendment bans "cruel and unusual punishments.""

This author speaks about how how often criminals our punished more severely then they should be for the simple fact that the politicians don't want to seem soft. However, this act itself is a violation to the Constitute. The eighth amendment tells us that cruel and unusual punishments are considered illegal. So what is cruel? The author is trying to make the point that overly punishing someone for the sake of one's reputation can be classified as cruel. So the constitution needs to be revised to address and clarify this problem.