Democracy in America Volume 2 Tocqueville Alexis de 9781318787296 Books
Download As PDF : Democracy in America Volume 2 Tocqueville Alexis de 9781318787296 Books
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
Democracy in America Volume 2 Tocqueville Alexis de 9781318787296 Books
I’ve always been fascinated by America, the American experiment, the American experience. In college, I found my place in the sociology, anthropology, political science and literature of the American people, values and ideals. My novels are born of the culture of merging, conflicting cultures we, as Americans, were born into, from my conviction that dealing with that experience is the challenge of being American. Only once before, in 1968, have I had the horrifying sense that the country was coming apart under the strain, a sense of the great experiment disintegrating.What has happened to us? Where did this disintegration into hate and violence, this contempt for our institutions begin and where is it taking us? From all of my early studies, the work that keeps coming to mind, as I look for answers is Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. De Tocqueville was a French aristocrat who hated tyranny and feared that democracy would disintegrate into tyranny of the majority. He understood, however that democracy was the future, so in 1831 he came to America in order to see it in action. To my mind, no student should graduate from high school in the United States without reading his observations and reflections on the American people, for we desperately need to renew our sense of not only the hope but the challenges of being an American and a commitment to support its survival as a democracy.
De Tocqueville feared individualism and the abolition of the class system that, he believed, gave order and stability to the European nations. He believed that without that order, people would be forever anxious about where they belonged and would end up forever comparing themselves to each other. Forever insecure, their individualism would devolve into selfishness and each would end up alone. We should take a good look at ourselves in light of this fear. Has our insecurity, our need to know where we belong splintered us into rival groups where each gains stature by debunking the other?
However, De Tocqueville also found in the Americans, an equality unknown in Europe and with a deep sense of community and civil order. He found a people committed to building a new world, to resolving together the problems that confronted them. He believed that the multitude of civic organizations would counter the dangers of individualism. The men, he thought, would forever strive to power and acquisition of wealth, but the mores, the “habits of the heart” carried by the women, would provide the civilizing force.
He has a great deal to say about the role of religion in the New World and many other subjects, but this gives a taste of a perspective different enough to shake up the all-to-stale ideologies that have broken us into enemy camps. We have indeed joined civil action groups, but we have, since Trump’s election, discovered the importance of unwritten mores, that undergird our common culture. That gives us the opportunity to regain our sense of belonging to a whole.
His views on the role of women should spark lively conversations on individualism versus commitment for both genders as well as on the effect of the rampant greed of the eighties and nineties. De Tocqueville believed it is the “habits of the heart” that give the Americans strength. We need to rediscover those together.
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Tags : Democracy in America - Volume 2 [Tocqueville Alexis de] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition),Tocqueville Alexis de,Democracy in America - Volume 2,HardPress Publishing,1318787297,History General
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Democracy in America Volume 2 Tocqueville Alexis de 9781318787296 Books Reviews
Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said in a CNN interview in 1998
"This civilization is best described by the renowned French sociologist Alexi de Toqueville who spent some two years in the U.S. in the 19th century and wrote the valuable book entitled Democracy in America, which I am sure most Americans have read."
Well, I don't think that's the case. I've taken this book around with me for the last few years and have asked many Americans... and have yet to meet one.
This is a classic. A timeless classic. A prophetic classic. This was written back in the day when it took greatness to get funded , and then your expedition and research took years, and great people allowed time to write well. And the educated folks wrote to distant posterity. And time went by and blew away the chaff. This is the surviving kernel of truth and honesty before the era of political correctness. I'm done with dated writings targeting best seller status in the facebook era.
"Everywhere I go I'm asked if the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher." -- Flannery O'Connor
It is quite amazing and by far my favorite translation and compilation of all things Tocqueville. How the books and chapters are divided at first seem confusing, but you quickly adjust if you are familiar with Tocqueville. I am definitely not a Tocqueville scholar, but I guarantee this is the greatest review of the American political system to this day. Pick up a copy of The Federalist Papers and Anti-federalist Papers while you're at it and you will have the quintessential trifecta of American democracy.
Given that I do not speak/read French, I cannot speak to the accuracy of the translation, however, this translation was a pleasure to read in English. Also, the footnotes were helpful, and the chronology section helped put Tocqueville himself in context nicely. I read the kindle edition, and it was well formatted.
Apart from this specific translation/edition, I don't think that I can add much that isn't already out there about Democracy in America other than perhaps to point out that you are much less likely to find it interesting if you are not at least somewhat familiar with 18th and 19th century French history. If this is the case, I would recommend at least reading "Revolutionary France 1770-1880" by François Furet prior to starting Democracy in America.
I’ve always been fascinated by America, the American experiment, the American experience. In college, I found my place in the sociology, anthropology, political science and literature of the American people, values and ideals. My novels are born of the culture of merging, conflicting cultures we, as Americans, were born into, from my conviction that dealing with that experience is the challenge of being American. Only once before, in 1968, have I had the horrifying sense that the country was coming apart under the strain, a sense of the great experiment disintegrating.
What has happened to us? Where did this disintegration into hate and violence, this contempt for our institutions begin and where is it taking us? From all of my early studies, the work that keeps coming to mind, as I look for answers is Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. De Tocqueville was a French aristocrat who hated tyranny and feared that democracy would disintegrate into tyranny of the majority. He understood, however that democracy was the future, so in 1831 he came to America in order to see it in action. To my mind, no student should graduate from high school in the United States without reading his observations and reflections on the American people, for we desperately need to renew our sense of not only the hope but the challenges of being an American and a commitment to support its survival as a democracy.
De Tocqueville feared individualism and the abolition of the class system that, he believed, gave order and stability to the European nations. He believed that without that order, people would be forever anxious about where they belonged and would end up forever comparing themselves to each other. Forever insecure, their individualism would devolve into selfishness and each would end up alone. We should take a good look at ourselves in light of this fear. Has our insecurity, our need to know where we belong splintered us into rival groups where each gains stature by debunking the other?
However, De Tocqueville also found in the Americans, an equality unknown in Europe and with a deep sense of community and civil order. He found a people committed to building a new world, to resolving together the problems that confronted them. He believed that the multitude of civic organizations would counter the dangers of individualism. The men, he thought, would forever strive to power and acquisition of wealth, but the mores, the “habits of the heart” carried by the women, would provide the civilizing force.
He has a great deal to say about the role of religion in the New World and many other subjects, but this gives a taste of a perspective different enough to shake up the all-to-stale ideologies that have broken us into enemy camps. We have indeed joined civil action groups, but we have, since Trump’s election, discovered the importance of unwritten mores, that undergird our common culture. That gives us the opportunity to regain our sense of belonging to a whole.
His views on the role of women should spark lively conversations on individualism versus commitment for both genders as well as on the effect of the rampant greed of the eighties and nineties. De Tocqueville believed it is the “habits of the heart” that give the Americans strength. We need to rediscover those together.
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