"The French social and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville saw the vitality of American associational life, along with the decentralized nature of the federal system, as the keys to the success of the new democracy."
Ignoring for a moment that we're a republic and not a democracy - I'm left wondering if some of the problems we face today are because those two key aspects of American life have changed?
Americans are no longer "joiners" and associations and friends "in real life" seems to becoming a thing of the past. Spending so much time in the Metaverse seems an awful waste to me. "Bowling alone" is increasingly a problem.
So too is the fact that government in the US has become much more centralized than ever before. And more powerful. The government of 1918 wouldn't have had the power to lock down the nation like we recently did.
Are we losing two of the things that de Tocqueville saw that made us great? I worry we are trending in the wrong direction. I also worry we may not be able to get off the path we're on.
We are not merely trending wrong, we are far, far down the road. And, absent an extreme existential event, we will not be able to get off the path. It is a generational issue.
ReplyDeleteHave to say that I agree, Though I pray we're both wrong.
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