Source: Law & Liberty
by Daniel Klein
“One of the most famous elements from Alexis De Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is his discussion of ‘soft despotism.’ Tocqueville’s description of soft despotism is familiar — ‘despotism of this kind does not ride roughshod over humanity,’ ‘it does not tyrannize’ — and the immediate result is that the nation is reduced ‘to being nothing more than a herd of timid and industrious animals of which the government is the shepherd.’ Tocqueville speaks of ‘an immense tutelary power’ looming over the citizenry, like a great ‘schoolmaster,’ seeking to keep citizens ‘fixed irrevocably in childhood.’ It’s a haunting description. But Tocqueville saw that the drama involved yet another act. If soft despotism is the Bad, what comes next is the Very Bad.” (03/10/25)