Insights from the past

“In the United States…there is no one who is not an elector, and whoever has this title concurs indirectly in the law. Those who want to attack [current or create unpopular]…laws are therefore reduced to doing openly one of these two things: they must either change the opinion of the nation or ride roughshod over its will.” --Alexis de Tocqueville

I have recently been taking a journey through Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America”. Alexis lived in the early nineteenth century and, after much study, wrote this work in the 1830s, borrowing heavily on his comparisons to France at the time (which had had a rather tumultuous 40 years prior).

I am amazed, page after page, at how thoughtful and astute de Tocqueville is. Although he is writing about democracy and the U.S. almost 200 years ago, the overwhelming majority of his words still ring true today! Paragraph after paragraph I am left amazed at the obvious truth that he is writing. How is it that every American does not know of this work?

That aside, I came across this quote today. The bracketed words are mine as it is a small adaptation of what de Tocqueville was getting at in this section. But the thing that came to mind was this: of these methods, which are the proponents of “health care overhaul” and “the government option” using?

Take a look at how the recent amendment to the 1968 hate crimes legislation has passed for some insight…