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January 9, 2013
Democratic Despotism
"The sovereign power extends its arms over the entire society;
it covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated, minute, and uniform rules, which the most original minds and the most vigorous souls cannot break through to go beyond the crowd; it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them; it rarely forces action, but it constantly opposes your acting; it does not destroy, it prevents birth; it does not tyrannize, it hinders, it represses, it enervates, it extinguishes, it stupifies, and finally it reduces each nation to being nothing more than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd." -- Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859)
Posted by gerardvanderleun at January 9, 2013 10:25 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.