To conclude, seeing that Tocqueville appears to be a big proponent of equality, he may praise America as a country heading toward improvement while criticizing Russia for going back to the old ways. Tocqueville may express belief that the former needs to eliminate all forms of discrimination (ex. Subversive forms of racial discrimination) while the latter needs to de-centralize the government (less power wielded by the president).
What is going to happen to Three Mile Island? Should it be shut down or should it remain open? I
Thomas Jefferson had two options, to follow the constitution and what states has to say or to buy the Louisiana Purchase from France, and this was a dilemma. Not going through the states to get approval was a flaw saw by the people who were strong believers of the constitution. Though he himself was a strong believer in the constitution he chose to go ahead and buy the Louisiana Purchase. He knew he had to take this opportunity, for he wanted westward expansion. With that good of a mindset, Jefferson knew we would of course gain land, open up waterways, and help us grow as a country. He thought of things to benefit the U.S as a whole. He was not taking advantage of his power, nor was this was nothing as a selfish or conceited act. But was this the best for the U.S you may ask? Both Jefferson and I, think this will only benefit us.
Society has developed throughout history into a seemingly equal; however, segregated commonwealth. In general, humanity may seem to have broken the nineteenth century class structure, nonetheless, there are situations today that still have deep roots in discrimination and apartheid. Advancement in both extremes can result in a catastrophe, therefore, it is inevitable that a balance must be reached. In the short stories “Totem” by Thomas King, and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, the theme of overdeveloped social beliefs have proven to be the most significant. In both stories, the author is trying to say that society is either too equal, such as in “Harrison Bergeron” or too contrasting such as in “Totem.”
Tocqueville seems to like democracy in its ideal form. However, nothing can be perfect and thus America is not a perfect democracy. Tocqueville found numerous problems with democracy and the influence it had on the populace. These problems range from their distrust of dogmatic beliefs to the imperfect equality that is in place in America. He also found the effects of these problems to be quite problematic as well. For instance, individualism, an effect of equality, is very problematic to democracy. Tocqueville enjoys considering America as an experiment in democracy, but does not find it to be faultless.
The Louisiana Purchase posed several significant moral dilemmas for President Thomas Jefferson, but violating his strict constructionist view of the Constitution was one of the many dilemmas faced over the Purchase from France that occurred on numerous occasions. Jefferson believed if a power couldn’t be found in the Constitution it didn’t exist and reverted to the interest of the states. According to the Constitution, there is no power granting the President to make land investments or expend funds. President Jefferson also disagreed with Alexander Hamilton’s loose interpretation of the presidential powers found in the Constitution and the creation of the National Bank. American farmers and tradesmen used the port of New Orleans to ship their
Democracy in America has been a guiding principle since the foundation of the country. Many over the years have commented on the structure and formation of democracy but more importantly the implementation and daily function within the democratic parameters that have been set. Alexis de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian born July 29, 1805. He is most famously known for his work Democracy in America. Democracy in America has been an evolving social and economic reform, and has continually changed since it’s founding.
Tocqueville (rather bizarrely in retrospect) conceived of America as having “an almost complete equality of conditions”. While in respect to the French alone, Tocqueville argues, “the taste and the idea of freedom began to exist and to be developed only at the time when social conditions were tending to equality and as a consequence of that very equality.” Tocqueville draws the first stirrings of equality to the “political power of the clergy,” which upon being consolidated began to spread and upon its ranks to “all classes, to rich and poor, commoner, and noble.” Thus “through the Church, equality penetrates into the government, and he who as a serf must have vegetated in perpetual bondage could, as a priest, take his place in the midst of nobles, and would often sit above kings.” Tocqueville continues to trace the ascent of equality and descent of aristocracy to the financial demise of kings “ruining themselves by their great enterprises; the nobles exhausting their resources by private wars, [while] the lower orders enriching themselves by commerce”. And with the advent and spread of education, the “value attached to high birth declines just as fast as new avenues to power are
The French wanted to bring equality to all classes. The French revolution brought much more social change than the American revolution. Inspired by Lafayette’s declaration that, “no group, no individual may exercise authority not emanating expressly therefrom” (de Lafayette 783), the class system was destroyed. The revolutionaries were open to ending slavery, however women remained marginalized within the social structure of France. Similarly to the American revolution, the enlightenment ideas that drove the French revolution were not applied to society as a whole.
In Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville explains the dangers of democracy and explains the virtues that temper these dangers. In this paper, I will look at two issues Tocqueville discussed extensively in late 19th century American democracy and posit what Tocqueville may say about these issues today. The points I will discuss are materialism and religion. In a democracy, such as America, the individual’s opportunity to succeed makes him more likely to become attached to material and money. However, in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, this danger is tempered by religion, which quenches the lust for material by reducing its importance in comparison to good mores. These two elements of American democracy are a small portion of the “Habits of the hearts” of Americans; they are two ideas that complement each other to make democracy appealing and possible anywhere and everywhere. Is this the case today? Is the American’s relationship to materialism and religion similar today to what it was when Tocqueville visited America?
“This dream of equality and fairness has never come easily—but it has always been sustained by the belief that in America, change is possible. Today, because of that hope, coupled with the hard and painstaking labor of Americans sung and unsung, we live in a moment when the dream of e...
(Veugelers) Tocqueville was not a supporter of equality but he valued liberty, what he meant by liberty was freedom from a tyrannical government, one which arbitrary seizes property. De Tocqueville wondered how liberty could have been preserved as society became increasingly equal. When it comes to equality, De Tocqueville is neither left or right. Karl Marx, on the other hand, had a different view on equality. He believed that families were organizations of inequality.
Another similarity between Theodore Roosevelt and Equality 7-2521 is their will to fight against what is wrong in their separate societies. Equality wishes to combat the idea that individuality
...s agree that Americans are united and endowed with natural resources but they disagree that Americans are of same culture. The form of these papers differs. Jay’s paper is a persuasive paper while Tocqueville’s excerpt is an expository paper. Jay expresses fear of separation in this excerpt; Tocqueville is joyous of America’s promise to it people but unhappy toward the end of the people insatiable crave for wealth; Paxson’s express sadness in his painting since the idea behind it is Sacajawea showing her place of capture. Jay effectively uses hyperbole to show Americans they are united; Tocqueville likewise effectively applies hyperbole to show his readers the magnitude of Americans desire to prosper. All the three documents are able to effectively communicate their ideas as they are properly organized (logical). These three documents are strong works of literature.
The Triplets of Belleville (French: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. There is little dialogue, the majority of the film story being told through song and pantomime. It tells the story of Madame Souza, an elderly woman who goes on a quest to rescue her grandson Champion, a Tour de France cyclist, who has been kidnapped by the French mafia for gambling purposes and taken to the city of Belleville. She is joined by the Triplets of Belleville, music hall singers from the 1930s, whom she meets in the city, and her obese hound, Bruno.
But, imagine, that the bullying was presented in a larger scale? Imagine the victim was a state, how would reactions play out? In Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, that sort of bullying was taking place. But as individuals would inattentively hurt one another, no, this is was a attack on a America and its citizens, such as the Puritans and the liberal democracy of the America.