Mitt Romney might have made reference to some of the ideas of Alexis de Tocqueville and shamed his critics into attempting to ridicule or denounce these. I am surprised no one prominent in public life has recently called attention to some of them, so well articulated by de Tocqueville, perhaps the most astute European (French) observer of America. Here is a sample:
“In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it….”
“What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class…..”
“It is the dissimilarities and inequalities among men which give rise to the notion of honor; as such differences become less, it grows feeble; and when they disappear, it will vanish too…..”
September 19, 2012
We are delighted to present Lessons in Freedom, essays by Dr. Tibor Machan, for your pleasure.
Dr. Machan holds the R. C. Hoiles Chair in Business Ethics & Free Enterprise at Chapman University's Argyros School of B&E.
Points well taken Professor Machan as your quotations from de Tocqueville’s keen observations and judgment have never been more perceptive… Immigration trends, disinterested attitudes and the administration’s failed economic policies have moved the United States from a once, great, innovative nation of entrepreneurs and producers to the edge to being a majority ruled welfare state of economic dependents.. To fall in four years from first to seventh in competitiveness is totally inexcusable..
The coming election in November is crucial and will determine the future direction for decades to come.. America better wake up before its to late as its self-destruction maybe just over the horizon as de Tocqueville so clearly warned us so many years ago..