Ralph Waldo Emerson and Benjamin Franklin, both great minds of their day, agreed on some topics of human nature and disagreed on others.
They seemed to agree that men are given a certain amount of talents and gifts and it is their job to make of them what they will. Some are better at things than others but regardless it is still their job to make the best of what they have.
However they do not agree in terms of society. Emerson states in his essay that he thinks that society is a silly thing. He states that "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members." Basically what he means by this is that by creating a society we force ourselves to conform to the mold of the society and therefore take away the manhood and individuality that each of us were born with.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Benjamin Franklin who believes that society is incredibly important and vital for our society. He believes that learning how to work together and form a society is a huge benefit for everybody.
Emerson says:
These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.
Basically what he is saying in my opinion is that everybody thinks that society is important in order to achieve equality and the ability for each man to receive due, but truthfully it just punishes the individual by causing them to change and conform to the patterns of the society. So in essence what is supposed to be to the benefit of everybody is really taking away their freedom of expression.
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