tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post3288902064626301713..comments2024-03-29T02:03:49.151-04:00Comments on History Unfolding: Democracy in AmericaDavid Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020082243968071584noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-55403875101893823952016-11-17T14:21:03.031-05:002016-11-17T14:21:03.031-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567108976370008837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-46460643689061354112016-10-22T12:42:01.663-04:002016-10-22T12:42:01.663-04:00I too look forward also to your articles on Tocque...I too look forward also to your articles on Tocqueville. I have had both editions of Democracy in America and once tried trudging through it with little success. I have pulled them off the shelves and started digging back into them, encouraged by your interests and hoping to keep pace with you on it.Larryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13733155849517667884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-24132975580822652402016-10-21T15:21:04.522-04:002016-10-21T15:21:04.522-04:00I am very happy that you are reading and commentin...I am very happy that you are reading and commenting on de Tocqueville. I have read parts of Democracy in America, and will now revisit it in more depth, as you are doing. <br /><br />I was amazed at the relevancy of Democracy in America, written over 150 years ago, and very soon after the establishment of the US. My recollection is that much of what was written then is still applicable today, though time and growth have changed the emphasis on the hierarchy of town to federal levels. <br /><br />Life in1830’s America was harsh. People, especially in less populated areas, were of necessity both self-reliant and community-reliant. Today, individualism is the dominant theme of American society and although citizens are still reliant on community (especially their government) they do not acknowledge this, believing instead that their successes are due to their own special set of skills alone. <br /><br />Your comments on “single-minded obsession with issue of race, gender and even sexual orientation” it seems to me, are primarily an observation that only a white, male, heterosexual citizen can appreciate. Social progress is the only brake on the animalistic tendencies of human nature, though one characterized by lengthy evolution. <br /><br />I happily look forward to further posts on this subject.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11629116622092214120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-10257200831956004532016-10-21T03:12:45.297-04:002016-10-21T03:12:45.297-04:00This promises to be a very good series of posts wh...This promises to be a very good series of posts which will rise above the current din of petty partisanship to offer a larger hoistorical perspective on the American project and I look forward to it. Regardless of the election winner the world is in for hrd times. America has passed its peak influence and cannot hold onto it, like post WWII Britain. Whether this period of adjustment will occur peacefully or not is the question. Oligarchy, plutocracy, corruption are widespread in America. Democracy exists only prima facie. The arrogance and stupidity of the ruling generation is enormous. Let us hope the youth learn from their impoverishment and destitution imposed upon them and do not end upnas cannon fodder for dreams of grandeur.Energyflowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14476915209268786507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-89932947773110848022016-10-20T17:56:26.430-04:002016-10-20T17:56:26.430-04:00Professor
Thanks for this post. I confess I never...Professor<br /><br />Thanks for this post. I confess I never read much Tocqueville. I know this is a large gap in my knowledge. I did read a little Rousseau, and of course other writers' squibbs.<br /><br />Here is an excerpt from an old post of mine, sort of on your topic here:<br /><br />"...it is a little ironic that the Enlightenment philosophes had been the ones rendered declasse by the Revolution, a radical solution which they themselves had been the main ones promoting in the mid 18th Century.<br /><br /> Not really so ironic, when one considers their overwhelmingly aristocratic patronage.<br /><br /> Rousseau was the only one they, the French Revolutionaries, later kept, apparently.<br /><br /> He had taken the position, more or less, that all traditional authority was contrary to nature."<br /><br />All the best <br /> Bozonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18078858723231122013noreply@blogger.com