You know what might be the most irritating thing about the Transcendentalists? How quick they are to believe in the good of others. Do you know why that is annoying? Because everyone (including myself) wants that to be true.
But the HUMAN EXPERIENCE dictates that that is not so. Excuse me, but there are awful people out there. Is Hitler a good person at his core? Perhaps, but does that matter, in the big scheme of things? No, probably not. He was crazy, and he believed in things just as far-fetched sounding as many of the things Emerson and many others believe (I'm talking more than just transcendentalists).
I don't mean to compare Emerson to Hitler or Hussein. I mean to use those people to challenge Emerson's beliefs.
As a side note, it's kind of weird that Emerson ended Selected Essays with a surprisingly touching essay on Thoreau.
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