"A nation that asks nothing of its government but the maintenance of
order is already a slave at heart -- the slave of its own well-being, awaiting
but the hand that will bind it. By such a nation the despotism of faction is
not less to be dreaded than the despotism of an individual. When the bulk
of the community is engrossed by private concerns, the smallest parties
need not despair of getting the upper hand in public affairs. At such times
it is not rare to see upon the great stages of the world, as we see at our theaters,
a multitude represented by a few players, who alone speak in the name of an
absent or inattentive crowd: they alone are in action whilst all are stationary;
they regulate everything by their own caprice; they change the laws, and
tyrannize at will over the manners of the country; and then wonder to see
into how small a number of weak and worthless hands a great people may fall."
[From: de Tocqueville, Alexis, *Democracy in America* [2 vols.]
(New York: Bantam Classic, 2004) [orig. publ. 1835] ]
Rating: User: rclark23 2007-03-12T03:28:10.717Z
Tags:
Oppression | Freedom |