Looking closely at the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Cornell West gives us very a very detailed insight in the politics and intricacies of societal workings.  Bhumibol Adulyadej states, "A good person can make another person good; it means that goodness will elicit goodness in the society; other persons will also be good."  The point that Emerson makes is that it is solely your responsibility to do what makes you happy.  The intentions for which you act upon do not matter, whether good or bad.  Cornell West, on the other hand, writes about the identity of self in relation to society.  You have moral obligations because you are born a certain way.  A different set of situations and social experiences apply to each person while keeping that relation unique to a group of people.  Each man has his own stance and view on how society should be dominated by self.  Whereas Emerson's argument to choose to ignore the past, imitation, and only act in the present as you live with God today and be one with nature, West believes we should look to one another and tradition, to make it a livable nurturing society.  There is no way to live as you see fit, as Emerson describes, if an entire society is constantly telling you no.

I believe Wests argument is the most sustainable in the world today.  Both arguments however can be used in tandem to become a free and enlightened thinker.  Emerson's argument is the one that comes out of a privileged mindset.  He was in a position to be able to form this opinion and live it out.  Cornell West came about his argument from being a part of a troubled society, which also dominated the way he could go about living his life.  Such as the way of the majority of the population. West's troubled society was that of the community of African Americans.  For decades people of color have fought to be equal.  West's beliefs are in tandem with this fact. He states, "I refer to the struggle for decency and dignity, the struggle for freedom and democracy." (West 456).  

A beautiful analogy Emerson makes on the way you should live compares roses with thoughts you should have on the doctrine of living as yourself.  "The roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day.  There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence." (Emerson 446).  Emerson believes that the rose is perfect and has every right to be in its own space and free from competition.  

West's counter argument to this statement would be that it is hard to live life as a rose; beautiful and perfect in every moment in time, if you are viewed as the thorns.  Thornes are the problems. They come between the rose's beauty and are cut off to provide pacification.  West reaches back to one of his inspirational leaders W. E. B. Du Bois.  The absurd in society was being black in America was to be a problem.  West and Du Bois state, that the problem specifically, is Black Bodies in White space.  "He understood what it meant to be cast as part of a problem people rather than people with problems." (West 457)

West continues his argument by showing the relations of which class you belong in and your opportunity of being individuals.  He uses history to show how only the top percent of the population have ever been the ones to be different.  Ordinary people are viewed as "weeds and rain drops".  "Du Bois also underscored that to be part of a problem people is to be viewed as part of an undifferentiated blob, a monolithic block. Problem people become indistinguishable and interchangeable, which means that only one of them has to be asked to find out what all the rest of them think."  Emerson's argument against conformity becomes void when the conforming is done for you in the minds of others saying you are the same as everyone else who looks like you or is in the same social class as you. After the elite people (the real individuals) everyone else is following the common thoughts of the multitude.        

Emerson argues that we are dead if we look to the past or rely on anything outside of ourselves.  Wests believes that the very reason we are human is that we have one another to learn from and to guide for the next generation and several to come after.  The non-market values that make up West's argument are the things that are under attack in Emerson's essay.  The nonmarket activities include Mercy, justice, care, service, sweetness kindness and gentleness.  Emerson believes that if it does not come to you naturally then it is not your concern or moral duty to care or help the aid of the cause.  If there are no teachings of moral conduct then the world would be exactly what Cornell West warns against.  

Emerson's argument is a beautifully written one that inspires but is not fully applicable in society.  The world would be in chaos if every man and woman were to be a nonconformist in every way.  There are multiple moral codes, laws, and standards that are for the good of mankind.  I believe that Emerson would not want to live in that world to the fullest extent to which he describes.  The thoughts that are displayed in this writing are the thoughts of someone who can afford to think them.  However, that also proves his point.  Because he is able to think this way, and say what he feels, he is uniquely himself.  Each argument speaks on the obligation of mankind.  It is the obligation of every man to speak what is on his mind and what he feels, regardless of if it is positive or ill.  A man may even prove himself wrong the next day.  The idea that contradiction is justified by emotion and the owning of ones ideas is a plausible one. Much advancement in the medical and health field have occurred in such a fashion. Emerson's argument falls short on the view of society as a whole. He fails to see the effects of his doctrine on global life.

Cornell West's argument is written in the view of the minority speaking to everyone trying to pull us together.  He believes it is your moral obligation to make yourself as knowledgeable on tradition and history so that society can progress in a positive light.  You are obligated to continue the nonmarket values and traditions.  Society is constantly evolving and changing to meet new needs of the changing interest of the people who it consists of.  West realized that and said, "There is no overnight solution or panacea, of course. We need to begin with something profoundly un-American, namely, recalling a sense of history, a very deep, tragic, and comic sense of history, a historical sensibility linked to empathy. Empathy is not simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through, but having the will to muster enough courage to do something about it."  

These two texts concerning obligations show us how many different parts to society there are.  There is no remedy to solving the problems in all of society that every person can follow.  Each member's needs are different and therefore are obligated to do to what is best for them in their environment.  Healing the body starts by taking care of its parts and members.  This method guarantees the overall health.  Maybe if it is implemented in society, then civil relationships can move on in a positive direction.

