I disagree with the point of Tocqueville’s writings being too old to help us productively think about how to address contemporary problems in American society. I think his views on equality of the social classes can greatly help our class system today. Although it may be too late due to the fact that the rich want to stay rich, Tocqueville’s writings could definitely shed valuable insight on that topic.
In one of his writings Tocqueville says that: “When the citizens of a community are classed according to rank, profession, or birth and when all men are forced to follow the career which chance has opened before them, everyone thinks that the utmost limits of human power are to be discerned in proximity to himself, and no one seeks any longer to resist the inevitable law of his destiny.” This point Tocqueville makes is still very relevant in present day. People born into wealth have a tendency to get lazy and become contempt with their lives. People born into poor standing also can become contempt with the hands that they are dealt and not strive for more. The same idea stands for middle class people. Tocqueville believes that due to this lack of drive humans won’t complete their full potential with this same class system in place.
Even though America is a democracy, people aren’t given the same opportunities from the day they are born. Democracy was still prevalent in Tocqueville’s time but the same circumstances occurred. Tocqueville believed that if society truly followed a true democratic model this problem of people being contempt with their environment wouldn’t be a problem. He thought that this would allow people to truly reach perfectibility in their lives. This idea could still help America today.
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I agree with the fact that there are many forms of inequality in American society today and I also agree with the idea that Tocqueville’s writings are still relevant to contemporary society. Due to the fact that many Americans are born into vastly different economic standings the ideas of Tocqueville and his view on equality are more important than ever. If people are not, or feel like they are not, experiencing an equal playing field issues will arise within society.