"
It is true that courtiers in America do not say "Sire" and "Your Majesty" - a great and capital difference; but they speak constantly of the natural enlightenment of their master; they do not hold a competition on the question of knowing which one of the virtues of the prince most merits being admired; for they are sure he possess all the virtues, without having acquired them and so to speak without wanting to do so; they do not give him their wives and daughters so that he may deign to elevate them to the rank of his mistress; but in sacrificing their opinions to him, they prostitute themselves."Hmmm Tocqueville's so.... sexy... isn't he? Well, maybe not sexy in the traditional Angelina Jolie type way. But he brings so much more passion and eloquence to thoughts that no one so humble as myself could manage. This quote, one of my ultimate favorites, speaks so truely of how I see American politics. Americans have been so indoctrinated by America's political ideals, to the
way, that we offer up the virgin minds of our little ones to be deflowered by a uniformity of thought. Regardless of how "different" we choose to believe we are, we are not. There is no equal discussion of thought in the United States, because we are too concerned with smoothing the waters.
How many times do we use the phrase "We'll just have to agree to disagree." As if there is no right or wrong. But I don't subscribe to that. I believe that there are concrete answers to political questions, and to questions about politicians. But instead of speaking based on knowledge, based on information we as individuals have obtained and decoded and used to formulate independant thought and opinion, we speak in generalities and hypotheticals. We lay down our minds to those we believe have more knowledge and "inside information" and allow them to dictate how we feel.
So I'll leave you with this question, How much
more do you really think they know?
