Discussion questions (answer one). Be sure to relate your answer to Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (pp. 38-44; 68-73).
According to Tocqueville in Chapter 3, it was inheritance laws in the early states that guaranteed permanent democracy in America. By requiring the will of the deceased to divide up large estates equally among the children, it prevented anything like a landed aristocracy from ever appearing again. But isn’t there something in human nature that desires a sense of place and belonging? What happens to us when we are constantly selling our private property, and never putting down roots? Do we find that sense of belonging in other ways?
According to Tocqueville in Chapter 3, the American education is a paradox: Americans have access to vast information, but they don’t study it very seriously; they are highly literate, but they don’t read anything very serious or challenging; they are enlightened, but only a little bit. Learning is primarily about what is useful — acquiring a skill that makes money. Can such a people be persuaded to see the value of truly great books or fine works of art? Can universities go against this trend with liberal education, at least in the core curriculum?
