Journal #21

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Benjamin Franklin have differing views on self-reliance. Emerson thought that self-reliance was very important. He thought that everyone should rely on oneself. He also believed that each person should tell everyone else about their thoughts and ideas, because he thought that eventually the person's thoughts and ideas would get out anyway, so he figured that the person with the original idea might as well say it. He also thought that if one person did not tell their thoughts or ideas, someone else would, and the person with the original idea would be ashamed, because they had the idea in the first place but they were too cowardly to say anything, so they would be ashamed that they had not said the idea first. Benjamin Franklin had different ideas, because he thought that each person should work together for the greater good of the country or anything else they are involved in. He believed that people should not work for themselves, but that the person should be sacrificial and work toward the good of everyone else, not for themselves. If Benjamin Franklin and Ralph Waldo Emerson had discussions on self-reliance, they would have had very opposing views. They probably would have argued quite a bit, and I am not sure if they would have ever ended up agreeing. They may have just had to agree to disagree, but their views are so different that they would have had a very hard time finding any points to agree on. They probably would have agreed on the fact that people should all try to reach the good of everyone, but at the same time, they probably would have disagreed on how to do it. Franklin and Emerson may have been friends, but they would argue, or "discuss", they differing views and opinions often. Benjamin Franklin and Ralph Waldo Emerson were very different people with very different views, but they were both vital in the history of America and American writing.