The best ever smackdown of Thoreau can be found in either Michael Pollan’s Second Nature.

He has a whole chapter on Walden Pond and discusses how those who fetishize nature don’t really realize that letting things remain “natural” is no longer an option. The world has been so changed that no truly “native” plantings can survive without human intervention. The best part of the essay challenged Thoreau’s smug contemplation of his superiority in letting his beanfield be destroyed by “natural” weeds. The weeds, you see, were man-introduced as well. Plus, Pollan points out, it is a lot easier to be sanguine about the failure of your crops when you don’t rely on those crops for your very survival.