Thoreau had witnessed many changes in his society as the result of the Industrial Revolution in America. It seemed to bring progress, such as railroads, but this progress also damaged both the natural world and human nature. He uses the example of the pond being exploited every winter when it freezes, when ice cutters come to cut large chunks of ice to cart back to the large cities for wealthy people's luxuries like early refrigeration and ice cream. Thousands of pounds of ice were taken out of the pond with no thought about the impact on the local wildlife or the future sustainability of the pond.
Thoreau uses the ice melting on the carts as a metaphor for the futility of the notion of human progress and notes that human desires just as quickly vanish, only to be replaced by others. The Industrial Revolution and the notion of progress have corrupted mankind, and he advocates going back to a simpler, more self-sufficient life before it is too late.
Thoreau built his cabin near the shore of Walden Pond with his own hands and tried to live off the land and provide for his every need through his labors---farming, foraging and bartering. He believed in living a simple life of self-sufficiency. He was against consumerism, perceiving reliance upon industry as a trap that creates a limitless list of wants that are often labeled "needs" by materialistic people. Through a simple life we will actually have more time for leisure rather than pursuing money at any cost. We will therefore have time for more spiritual pursuits, such as spending time with loved ones and charitable deeds.
Thoreau was a writer and philosopher of the American Transcendental school. This group of thinkers formed in the early to mid-19th century in New England and included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Amos Bronson Alcott, as well as his daughter Louisa May Alcott. The Transcendentalists drew upon a variety of philosophical texts to argue that spirituality was a matter of individual reasoning, personal choice and intuition rather than the rigid doctrines of organized churches. Thoreau drew upon Hindu texts for the notion of transcending ordinary existence and achieving a higher self. He advocated transcending the materialistic and consumerist society he saw taking root in America, rising above it through acts of compassion, selflessness and care for nature and all living beings.