"In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own."
--from "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville
--from "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville
Democracy in America has had the singular honor of being even to this day the work that polit?ical commentators of every stripe refer to when they seek to draw large conclusions about the soci?ety of the United States. Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat, came to the young nation to investigate the functioning of American democracy and the social, political, and economic life of its citizens, publishing his observations in 1835 and 1840. Brilliantly written and vividly illustrated with vignettes and portraits, Democracy in America is far more than a trenchant analysis of one soci?ety at a particular point in time. What will most intrigue modern readers is how many of Tocqueville’s observations still hold true: on the mixed advantages of a free press, the strained relations among the races, and the threats posed to democracies by consumerism and corruption. So uncanny is Tocqueville’s insight and so accurate are his predictions, that it seems as though he were not merely describing the American identity but actually helping to create it.
Americans too have remained much as Alexis de Tocqueville found them in the 19th century: "So many lucky men, restless in the midst of abundance."
托克維爾
(Alexis de Tocqueville)
- Alexis de Tocqueville: French politician and writer of the classic Democracy in America (1805-1859)
2005
歲末懷念友人： Jean-Marie Gogue
上周，接到法國友人 Jean-Marie Gogue的賀卡（12月10日寄出）。注意到郵花改變相當多：Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) 價碼為0.9歐元。
他說「一直念記我。新年快樂。」