Portrait of Henry David Thoreau
Radical left · Thinker or writer · From history

Henry David Thoreau

American essayist and naturalist, 1817 to 1862

See how United States compares →

Went to jail rather than pay taxes that supported slavery and the Mexican War, and wrote Civil Disobedience, which later influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

Henry David Thoreau sits in the right-libertarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: centered on economy and strongly libertarian. The clearest positions are strongly nature-first on environment, strongly libertarian on liberty and authority and strongly anti-establishment on institutions. The profile is close to the middle on economy and religion.

Read more about Henry David Thoreau on Wikipedia →

Where Henry David Thoreau sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyCentered on economy
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly libertarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning progressive
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning globalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentStrongly nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyStrongly tech-cautious
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly peace-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsStrongly anti-establishment
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionCentered on religion
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismStrongly non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Henry David Thoreau

Laozi Chinese sage, c. 6th century BCE97%Ivan Illich Austrian philosopher and priest, 1926 to 200297%Petra Kelly German Green co-founder, 1947 to 199293%Arundhati Roy Indian novelist and activist92%Jane Jacobs American-Canadian urbanist, 1916 to 200691%Leo Tolstoy Russian novelist and moral thinker, 1828 to 191090%Bob Dylan American singer-songwriter89%Naomi Klein Canadian author and activist88%

People furthest from Henry David Thoreau

Louis XIV King of France, 1643 to 17151%Joseph Stalin Soviet leader, 1920s to 19531%Benito Mussolini Prime Minister of Italy, 1922 to 19431%Kim Jong Un Supreme Leader of North Korea, 2011 to present2%

Political views closest to Henry David Thoreau

Anarcho-primitivismRejects civilization, agriculture and industry and favors a return to hunter-gatherer…97%Deep ecologyGives nature value in itself and calls for a radical reduction of human impact.92%EcofeminismLinks the domination of women and the domination of nature, and calls for care,…92%Green politicsPuts ecological limits, sustainability and grassroots democracy at the center of policy.89%

Read more about Henry David Thoreau

These links open book searches on Amazon. If you buy through them, Caucus earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. They have no influence on where anyone is placed on the map.

Biographies of Henry David ThoreauBooks on anarcho-primitivism

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Benjamin D. Maxham active 1848 - 1858, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.