| If the absolute power of the
majority were to be substituted by democratic nations, for all the different
powers which checked or retarded overmuch the energy of individual minds,
the evil would only have changed its symptoms. Men would not have
found the means of independent life; they would simply have invented (no
easy task) a new dress for servitude. There is - and I cannot repeat
it too often - there is in this matter for profound reflection for those
who look on freedom as a holy thing, and who hate not only the despot,
but despotism. For myself, when I feel the hand of power lie heavy
on my brow, I care but little to know who oppresses
me; and I am not the more disposed to pass beneath the yoke, because it
is held out to me by the arms of a million of men.
Democracy In America (1835-1840), by Alexis De Tocqueville, Book Two. Translator - Henry Reeve |