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Reading books to own the libs. (thelemmy.club)

submitted 2 weeks ago by Yuritopiaposadism@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net

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[-] JoeByeThen@hexbear.net 33 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Btw has anyone actually read it? Is it worth reading? Tbh, the Amazon description doesn't sound very appealing. Kinda LIB little white supremacy even.

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) came to America in 1831 to see what a great republic was like. What struck him most was the country's equality of conditions, its democracy. The book he wrote on his return to France, Democracy in America, is both the best ever written on democracy and the best ever written on America. It remains the most often quoted book about the United States, not only because it has something to interest and please everyone, but also because it has something to teach everyone.

[-] WalleyeWarrior@midwest.social 43 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's not a whitewashing that the description makes it out to be. Tocequville is working for the July Monarchy and so he was interested in how liberal democracy in America ~~suffered from~~ compared to the aristocratic structure of post-Napoleonic France. He admires the individualism of the frontier settlers while also pointing out that the US constitution has no actual mechanisms to enforce said liberal democracy when faced with an executive that doesn't respect the separation of powers.

[-] Mardoniush@hexbear.net 27 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's also an attempt to ward off any Jacobinism, he started writing it shortly after the June 1832 "Le Miserables" revolt. (One of the first times the Red Socialist flag was raised.)

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this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2026

164 points (100.0% liked)