> I don't understand how exactly he shaped America?
From the link: "Thoreau’s love of nature and his advocacy of a simple life have had a large influence on modern conservation and environmentalist movements."
Beyond Walden, Thoreau's Resistance to Civil Government (also known by the title Civil Disobedience) has been cited as a major influence by civil rights leaders in the United States and abroad.
I don't think it'd be fair at all to say that Thoreau is forgotten in America, even if not everything about modern American life and culture conforms to what he might have wanted for the country.
This may be what you are referencing, but Bloomberg terminals began carrying tweets from selected financial figures and organizations earlier this year:
I thought this was an interested comment on the early challenges of offering internet access to home PC users:
The fact that modems were viewed as "peripheral" to personal computers was our ultimate hurdle. Back then you went to the "peripherals" section of computer stores if your wanted to get connected.
No doubt this was an inconvenience to people trying to get to work on the metro, and the number affected (300 million) is staggering, but all the same:
About 40 percent of Indians, or 500 million people, lack electricity.
40% do lack electricity but that does not mean all live without power. The problem in India is that ability to produce enough electricity for all. Hence, people who can afford use generators etc. which nowadays are not that expensive for middle class.
