W hen one is uncomfortable in a situation, do they leave? When someone of higher authority demands something of a person, do they comply? People who “give in” to these situations are considered conformist. A conformist follows customs and rules. Traditionally, being a nonconformist would make one socially unacceptable or disrespectful. So when does one stand of for what they believe in? When do they actually question the bigger man? Henry Thoreau did exactly that. Thoreau was a nonconformist. He believed that the Mexican War supported slavery. Subsequently leading him to believe that the tax money that he paid would support slavery, which he was absolutely against. The refusal of tax paying ultimately led him to jail. In Thoreau’s case, he was so strongly opposed to slavery it did not take much for him to rise up against the government. He even believed politicians and others that worked for the government, such as tax payers were criminals, in Resistance to Civil Government he says, “If one were to judge these men wholly by the effects of their actions, and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievous person who put obstructions on the railroads.” Men must become nonconformist when the government, or really anything of power, becomes so unacceptable to them, that they cannot stand it. Most people conform and comply to what others demand of them, and never question it. We all must question, all the time. The moment we begin to let other people think for ourselves, is the moment when we lose all individuality.