Thoreau begins his essay by advocating the motto: "that government is the best that governs least" (177), which implies reducing government interference in everyday affairs by reducing the government's ability to tax for unpopular causes. A case in point is the poll tax – a “per capita” tax imposed on all citizens to help support what Thoreau considered an unjust war against Mexico, which would extend slavery into new U.S. territories, organized by a small elite of people who manipulated the government to their advantage against the will of the people (177). Furthermore, Thoreau argues that government rarely proves useful and that it derives its authority from the majority because the majority is physically the strongest group, not because it has the most legitimate point of view. He continues by saying that the individual's primary obligation is to do what he believes is right and not to obey the law dictated by the majority. It may be suggested that when a government is unjust, people should refuse to obey the law and disassociate themselves from government in general. This implies that a person is not obligated to dedicate his or her life to eradicating evils from the world, but he or she should not participate in such evils, which could mean not being a member of an unjust institution such as the government. However, at the same time, dissociating oneself from society and being ultimately responsible only to oneself, especially in today's interconnected world, may not be the most appropriate approach. Furthermore, it is worth noting that throughout Thoreau's work there is a strong sense of individualism and skepticism towards government. It can be argued that Thoreau is deeply skeptical of government because he despises the idea that an individual... means of paper... simply doesn't make the world worse. To return to the initial question, it would seem that a man has a duty to act according to the dictates of his own conscience, even if the latter goes against the opinion of the majority, or the laws of society. In cases where the state upholds unjust or immoral laws, Thoreau's notion of service to one's country paradoxically shifts into the form of resistance against it. Resistance is the highest form of patriotism because it illustrates the desire not to tear down government but to build a better one in the long term. Therefore, Thoreau does not advocate a total rejection of stewardship, but resistance to those specific characteristics deemed unjust or immoral. Although Thoreau's ideas were not very influential in the nineteenth century, they helped inspire the theories of nonviolent resistance of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luthor King..