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Alexis de Tocqueville was born JULY 29, 1805. A French social scientist, he traveled the United States in 1831, and wrote a two-part work, Democracy in America (1835; 1840), which has been described as: "the most comprehensive and penetrating analysis of the relationship between character and society in America that has ever been written." In it, Tocqueville wrote: "Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things,...

Tocqueville: on America, Algeria, & How "despotism" of "all powerful government" comes when citizens "debase" their souls seeking "vulgar pleasures"Alexis de Tocqueville was born JULY 29, 1805. A French social scientist, he traveled the United States in 1831, and wrote a two-part work, Democracy in America (1835; 1840), which has been described as: "the most comprehensive and penetrating analysis of the relationship between character and society in America that has ever been written." In it, Tocqueville wrote: "Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the...

Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America is a beloved, canonical text; the urge to quote from it is understandably great. Politicians ever seek to demonstrate familiarity with it, from Bill Clinton to Pat Buchanan. One of their favorite quotes runs as follows: I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there. . . . in her fertile fields and bound less forests—and it was not there. . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there. . . . in her democratic...

RUSH: You see, it doesn’t get any better than this. I’ve had the phone fully charged for an hour and 18 minutes. It’s been sitting here doing nothing, and it’s only showing five minutes of usage. I mean, that’s ideal. You cannot get any better than that. I see all these people, “I have battery problems!” Well, I need to do a clinic on this. You know, maybe a Fourth Hour on all of this stuff sometime. I mentioned at the top of the program that there are a couple of stories today to talk about how great Trump is...

Hurricane Harvey reveals an America that many in the media seem not to know exists: a multi-ethnic, multiracial country where people, for the most part, get along. For those who claim that President Donald Trump "coarsened" our politics and "set back race relations," Hurricane Harvey was pretty bad optics. Only weeks ago, some Democrats were counting the days toward Trump's impeachment and an early departure from the presidency. But last week they saw Trump, in Texas, looking quite presidential in his role as comforter in chief. They saw photos of a president soothing and embracing survivors, no matter their...

Following the presidential election, numerous stories surfaced about how “fake news” influenced the results. This prompted a reaction from the media and a concerted effort by the social media giant Facebook to crack down on the phenomenon—announcing that it would in part by using liberal fact-checkers to distinguish the “real” from the “fake” news.The truth is that while the American media landscape has been in a constant state of change over two centuries, the spread of hyperpartisan, scurrilous, and even phony news stories has been more common than uncommon throughout the history of the republic.Ultimately, despite the increasingly Wild West...

Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country. Religion in America...must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does...

The Statue of Liberty used to be the face America projected to the world. A gift from the people of France in 1886 and an emblem of how Americans saw themselves and how they wanted to be seen by the world. Liberte eclairant le monde is the name given the statue—”Liberty enlightening the world.” The female face adorning the Statue of Liberty expresses an otherworldly classical beauty and the vigilance necessary lest liberty succumb to licentiousness. Her uplifted torch symbolizes purification through illumination. Every year Hollywood has a newer face America projects to the world, a symbol of material...

No doubt every FReeper is familiar with the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville. The French political scientist and historian is best known for his monumental work "Democracy in America." In his later years, De Tocqueville broadened the scope of his studies and observations. Who knew that way back then he brilliantly recognized Islam for exactly what it was, and the dangers it posed to the world.....

President Obama referenced "Alex" de Tocqueville in today's remarks at the White House

Alexis de Tocqueville was a gentleman-scholar who emerged as one of the world’s great prophets. More than a century and a half ago, when most people were ruled by kings, he declared that the future belonged to democracy. He explained what was needed for democracy to work and how it could help protect human liberty. At the same time, he warned that a welfare state could seduce people into servitude. He saw why socialism must lead to slavery. Tocqueville staked his life on liberty. “I have a passionate love for liberty, law, and respect for rights,” he wrote. “I am...

Every problem seems to require a government solution in modern America. This is a clear departure from our nation's early history, as described by French historian and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville. In his famous work, Democracy in America, Tocqueville marvels at the American tendency to embrace voluntary associations in order to solve our problems. "Americans of all ages, all conditions, all minds constantly unite. ...Americans use associations to give fêtes, to found seminaries, to build inns, to raise churches, to distribute books, to send missionaries to the antipodes; in this manner they create hospitals, prisons, schools. ...Everywhere that, at...

US House of Representatives. Note twin fasces flanking the flag The growing powerlessness of the modern state reflects the abdication…of its erstwhile governing classes; and it is at least probable that in its wake there will follow not the blessings of increased liberty but a long transitory brutal period of insecurity and terror. – John Lukacs, The Passing of the Modern AgeThe Age of the StateThe absolute, divine-right monarch had been unknown during medieval times, which preferred its kings weak and nominal; but royal absolutism ensured peace and security; and those are bourgeois virtues, par excellence. So the rise of...

-excerpt- ..Tocqueville,....."Thus, taking each individual by turns in its powerful hands and kneading him as it likes, the sovereign extends its arms over society as a whole; it covers its surface with a network of small, complicated, painstaking, uniform rules through which the most original minds and the most vigorous souls cannot clear a way to surpass the crowd; it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them; it rarely forces one to act, but it constantly opposes itself to one’s acting; it does not destroy, it prevents things from being born; it does not...

Translator’s Note: In February, 1848, the July Monarchy of Louis Philippe was overthrown, and the Second French Republic established. The new republic believed that the unemployment problem which was plaguing Paris could be solved by setting up government work-projects, guaranteeing employment at a certain wage rate for all who desired it. On September 12th, the Constituent Assembly debated the continuance of this arrangement and Tocqueville rose to speak against it. In the course of his speech he entered onto the subject of socialism, which he considered the logical consequence of recognizing the “right to work,” and devoted most of his...

Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America is a beloved, canonical text; the urge to quote from it is understandably great. Politicians ever seek to demonstrate familiarity with it, from Bill Clinton to Pat Buchanan. One of their favorite quotes runs as follows: I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers - and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerc - and it was not there . ....

Does public charity produce an idle and dependant class of society?http://www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/Tocqueville_rr2.pdf

If Democrats insist on passing unpopular laws, they won't control Congress for long. Alexis de Tocqueville never met Harry Reid. Had he encountered the Senate Democratic leader—or President Barack Obama or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi—de Tocqueville might have learned about a new twist on his concept of the "tyranny of the majority." The Frenchman toured America in the 1830s and published his conclusions in the classic "Democracy in America." He noted the powerful impact of public opinion. "That is what forms the majority," he wrote. Congress merely "represents the majority and obeys it blindly" and so does the president. They...

WASHINGTON -- From Oct. 18 to Dec. 3, 1961, 116,000 people visited New York's Museum of Modern Art before anyone noticed that Henri Matisse's painting "Le Bateau" had been hung upside down. Modernity is supposed to "transgress" standards of the traditional, which is why Paul Hindemith, while rehearsing one of his dissonant orchestral compositions, said to the musicians, "No, no gentlemen -- even though it sounds wrong, it's still not right." Proponents of today's world-turned-upside-down economic policies say the policies might seem wrong but really are boldly modern in their rejection of markets in favor of pervasive government intervention in...

Story #4: Ledeen: Alexis de Tocqueville on the End of America March 6, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I had been meaning all week to share with you something that Michael Ledeen posted at his pajamas blog called Faster, Please!Michael Ledeen is a genuinely brilliant conservative, and he doesn't go in for dividing the movement. He used to write a lot of National Review Online, now has his own blog. He's been reading de Tocqueville, Alexis de Tocqueville who came to the United States in our early years and tried to figure out what made us work, and he did....