Most people assume GOP conservatives are reflexively pro-capitalist, that they embrace free markets, profit-making, and the pursuit of happiness through worldly success.

FORBES: Mitt Romney's Uphill Battle Against Anti-Capitalist Conservatives

Thoreau also built his cabin on land owned by his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who enjoyed greater literary and worldly success in their day.

FORBES: Thoreau's Idea Hunt, and Ours