Tocqueville the Prophet

In 1831, Alexis De Tocqueville visited the United States of America in order to assess the prison system here. During the nine months spent traveling through the US, Tocqueville took note of more than our prisons; he examined the strengths and weaknesses of America. Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, first published in 1833, is a celebrated and prominent work that sets in print the conclusions Tocqueville drew during his time in the US. Fundamentally, Tocqueville’s conclusion was that the US was a successful democracy unparalleled by its European associates.

Even prior to the Civil Rights Movement and the many judicial and legislative statues of the 1900’s that ushered in equality and social welfare, the US was a great nation. Unlike European countries, the United States was built on a foundation of religion for the purpose of building a life better for our children than we, ourselves, had. Moreover, Tocqueville noted the US was blessed with leaders who cared more about their constituents than their party.

In the same breath that he praised the US for its many unique strengths, Tocqueville also spoke forebodingly of the characteristics that could ruin the US, including an excessive love for equality. This seemingly honorable trait could, according to Tocqueville, drive men and women away from the unity and purpose at the core of the country. Instead, people would become increasingly materialistic and concerned with “self.” As equality increases, people begin to believe that they deserve the same wealth as everyone else in their society, despite difference in work ethic and training. Ultimately, the pursuit of self-interested agendas, such as wealth, comes at the cost of liberty.

And look where we are today. The prophetic accuracy of Tocqueville’s warning is frightening. We are a nation in debt; a lazy nation; a nation that criticizes the fundamentals of our society that we once venerated. “In God we trust,” “One nation, under God,” “God who gave us life gave us liberty.” These phrases should inspire people. These phrases are at the root of what makes this country great. We are all equal under God. Without God, under what measure are we equal? Based on society’s current value system, God has been replaced by a measure of wealth. The economy crumbled partially as the result of over spending in our pursuit of equal wealth. Exchanging God for money is not paying off.

Not only has our economy depressed as a result of our new focus, but also our entire value system has been transformed. Latest statistics released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that 40% of infants born in the United States were born to unwed mothers. As a society were are no longer dedicated to creating a complete family unit consisting of two parents (irregardless of gender or race). Are we putting our children first? We are not ensuring that our students succeed in school, as our performance rates continue to plummet. And what have we done to improve the health of our youth? Obesity is become an increasingly pervasive problem among our students.

We are also no longer a religious country. According to the American Religions Identification Survey, the number of Americans identifying as Christian has dropped by 10% since 1990, and 15% of Americans give no thought to religious identity, whatsoever.

The irony of our current state is that as our quality of life improved, we have become increasingly apathetic and content to be dependent on the government. The government makes too many decisions on our behalf, and the leaders do so with little regard for the best interest of their constituents. Our representatives and government leaders represent the political parties, corporations and interest groups that support them. As a result, the government is influencing free market banking, pursuing universal health care, and creating far too many overly indulgent social welfare programs. In short the government is controlling our destiny.

We Americans have confused liberty with equality, and in doing so, we have surrendered our power to the government. With increased control, the government will make us the same. Government institutions will be our equalizers. But the American way has never before been about equal, as in the same. America has always stood for the right to the same opportunities. We are all free to pursue the same ends; we are not all the same. I want the liberty to be responsible for my own failures and successes. I want the liberty to make my own way- to work for what I want and to earn what I have.

In this vein, I want a political party and a set of leaders capable of inspiring the nation to be better than we are today. To turn back time and get in touch with the unique characteristics that made the US the envy of the world.

We are a country built on the sweat of immigrants, the brilliance of our founders, and the courage of a proud people unafraid to work and daring enough to be better than the rest of the world. Let us not forget from where our power stems, and may we be brave enough today to reclaim our collective heritage and as one people take back the right to control our own destiny.