Economy 2

Economy 2

1. Philosophical Observations

   • Overcomplicating life is the problem
   • He also sees that the necessities do not actually make you poor
   • He, again, speaks of, “man have become the tools of their tools,” when independents have become farmers and the shelter seekers have become housekeepers.
   • The world is learning how to develop their microscopes and telescopes while they do not study the beauty of the natural eyes first.
     • People need to know how to do the basic stuff first, and then go to the more sophisticated concepts.

2. His critique to people

   • He blames the people’s greed as they always want the better, or simply they own things just because their neighbors have them, like houses
   • Obsession with luxury
     • asks about why our houses are too fancy, and not as simple as the Arab’s and Indian’s.
       • Our houses are always over furnished, and that requires women to do their “morning work” which angers him a lot.
     • He sees how mankind is obsessed by luxury as they would rather take care of their fashionability and luxuriousness than their safety and convenience.
     • Our houses have limited our freedom, and became a boring place.
       • There is no piece of art but what reflects these struggles.
       • He feels that we always press ourselves to ornament our houses

3. New Life in Walden

   • End of March 1845: he borrows an axe and cuts pine wood to make his own house.
   • April 1st: it rained and melted all the ice on the pond while he was still cutting wood and singing a song that said that nobody knows anything.
   • Middle of April: He had finished most of his house that he made himself. It seems that he was using accurate dimensions which made his house successful. He also grew potatoes in a warm place to make his own food.
   • Beginning of May, he finished the frame of the house with the help of some people, and lived in it when it was roofed. He used to make his own food and bread.

4. Economizing

   • Thoreau calculated how much his house costs, $28.12 ½ dollars, which is even a little bit less than a Cambridge College annual rent (with neighbors).