In view of the fact that, he looked at the government as very bad people who basically did evil and bad things to people. (For example, American slavery and the Mexican-American War.) And that all in all they didn't need such a government. Because they took things they shouldn't have, as if they didn't already have too much power. He stated that he only abides by the laws he made for himself and not those of the government. He felt that they were more harmful to others than helpful in terms of the perspective others had on them. While Socrates thought of the government as good people, he felt that they made people's lives better than having no government at all like Thoreau