Ralph Waldo Emerson was a philosopher, essayist and poet who helped kick off the Transcendetalist movement in the 19th century. More on Transcendetalism in due course, but it could be briefly described as a philosophy that highlights the goodness of nature and its inhabitants, including human beings, yet being very critical of society and its institutions. Sound familiar? As we constantly speak of the same in terms of top down centralized structures having corrupted the purity of the individual.

Emerson has been constantly popping up in our research of late, especially in reference to some of his more known essays such as "Self-Reliance" and "The Law of Compensation". Although very densely written and quite poetic for today's standards, all his essays are worth a read. Especially his other two "Spiritual Laws" and "The Over-Soul."

https://emersoncentral.com is a great resource to access his body of work. Nicely readable online and most of which can also be downloaded as PDF.