Sunday, September 9, 2012

Castles in the Sky

One of the questions I would like to address is about a quote on page 36 of Blessed Unrest regarding Thoreau and how activists should conceive their "dreams" or movements. He basically suggests that you should go big or go home. If you want something done you should build your castles in the air, "that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them," My question is whether or not you believe this is a successful technique for the environmental activist? Does this put off the "mainstream" or inspire? While many people during his day believed that Thoreau's endeavors at Walden were unsuccessful, his first book initially flopped,it is obvious that his time at Walden has been a major influence not only on literary world but also on the environmental movement. Does that mean we should all stop paying our taxes and live off the land? Will we change the world or just go back to making pencils? What do y'all think?

1 comment:

  1. I personally believe in balance, for every dreamer building castles in the air, there must be 10,000 doers prepared to slave over the foundation, and a couple slave drivers and architects to make sure everyones in check, and that the foundation isn't built on a marsh.

    Dreamers aren't worthless, they inspire, they cause the change, but don't facilitate it. Which means their words should be taken no more seriously than a pep talk before a football game.

    Sure, when coach said go out there and steamroll them, it got you amped up, but A.) he doesn't actually expect you to wheel a steamroller out to the field, and B.) literally doing it wouldn't win you a football game. He meants get the intended goal accomplished, and thats all such dreamy flowery talk can be interpreted as "get the job done, make a change, accomplish the goal within the means you have."

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