XIXth Century Wisdom for XXIst Century America

"April 16th marked the 150th anniversary of the death of one of the significant thinkers of modern times," notes Dr. Samuel Gregg, reminding us that "Alexis de Tocqueville’s prophetic insights into America have been cited approvingly by figures ranging from Nobel Prize economist Friedrich Hayek to Benedict XVI" — Despotism – The Soft Way. The thinker is "largely ignored in his native France, where the left-dominated intelligentsia dismisses him as 'antidemocratic,'" but "Americans of all generations... have regularly turned to this nineteenth-century aristocrat to understand their past and future." Says Dr. Gregg, "This is especially true when it comes to Tocqueville’s thoughts about democracy’s promise and perils which, more than ever, seem relevant for America." Dr. Gregg ends with this Tocquevillean observation" "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."

"Environmental protection can be done more efficiently and for less cost at the local level," says Laura E. Huggins — On Earth Day, think Thoreau. This being "a time when government involvement in the environment is all the rage," she reminds us that "Henry David Thoreau, who wrote that 'government is best which governs not at all,' is probably writhing in his grave." The author, after denouncing the "green nationalism" that began with Teddy Roosevelt, ends with this bit of Thoreauvian wisdom: "The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished, and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way."

Tim Rutten on a man who "died 99 years ago this week" but whose "status as both an author and protean example of the now-familiar pop cultural celebrity seems to grow with each passing decade" — 'Who Is Mark Twain?'. This stands out: "Twain, though an unbeliever, was one of the first American cultural observers to intuit that the country's great problem was not religion per se but a surfeit of religiosity." So does this: "He also was aware that few of his readers were prepared to accept his advanced political views, which were all the more remarkable in that he'd been born in the divided border state of Missouri, served a couple of desultory weeks as a Confederate irregular, then became one of the few Americans to sit out the Civil War as a neutral in Nevada." He was also "a passionate defender of racial equality, an early champion of women's suffrage, a fervent anti-imperialist." (Two out of three ain't bad.)