I love how School of Life always end their videos with a (more-or-less) "It's not good or bad, it's just the way it is." Thanks for the Sociology videos.
Ben Aaron I don't understand that position within Sociology. Surely, studying society should be used to draw various educated conclusions to what is bad and then change society for the better; rather than appease it.
Gray Beard It depends on what basis you argue. There are many different judges of 'goodness' or 'badness' (utilitarian, Christian morality, liberal, etc.) Therefore it seems to be better to let people choose their own measure and judge for themselves. That's just how I see it though, could be totally wrong.
marknufc29 That's true for ethics, every culture has varying behaviors that clash with each other and none are more right or wrong than the others. However, morality transcends ethics. Slavery, for instance, used to be ethically acceptable and the moral principles were only thought about by a few, but it was fundamentally immoral all along. Sociologists at the time appeased masters in their choice to hold slaves and saw it as a valid cultural choice.
+Gray Beard ... Is there a difference between morality and ethics? If so please enlighten me. I always thought they were approximately the same thing. I.e.: morality is how we behave; ethics is about how we behave. Morality is first order discourse on how we should behave. Ethics is second order discourse. Thus the term 'Ethics' is treated as equivalent to the term 'Moral Philosophy'. I am seriously troubled as to how 'morals can transcend ethics' because I do not and cannot believe in moral relativism. Surely some societies are bad and others good. In the same way that some actions are bad and some are good. Or some people are bad and some are good.
You are absolutely right. Tocqueville's work should be read in every school in america. Reading Democracy in america as a student literally changed the way I live my life. It's a fantastic work, with incredible insight into what makes us product of our democratic system, what are the flaws and even how we can correct them.
Oh, do you really think so ? Tyranny of the Majority has not happened ? In a "right-minded" society which praises multicultiralism, massive immigration, etc, and consider every person that could be against such process as a fascist/racist/nationalist/chauvinist or even nazi, and so many others sophisms ? I don't know where you come from, but here in Europe, I can tell you tiranny of the majority is in place since many years, and everything is done to make people ashamed of their own country, history and culture.
Alexis De Tocqueville "It is odd to watch with what feverish ardour Americans pursue prosperity, ever tormented by the shadowy suspicion that they might not have chosen the shortest route to get it. They cleave to the things of this world as if assured they will never die, and yet rush to snatch any that comes within their reach, as if they expected to stop living before relishing them. Death steps in, in the end, and stops them, before they have grown tired of this futile pursuit of that complete felicity which always escapes them." my favorite quote still as relevant as it was nearly 180 YRS LATER..
"Democracy was fatally biased toward mediocrity." This is one of those sentences which bring out the truths we want to ignore, so they make us uncomfortable.
Think of it like this: if corruption is beneficial and everyone thinks they can get away with it from time to time, most people will not speak against it even though they know it to be wrong or deal with it in a very shallow fashion. Like when u have a very good lawyer you can get away with a case. Makes any sense to u?
Thank you for both presenting de Touqueville's criticisms of democracy and also reminding us that this doesn't make democracy bad on balance. You counsel us to realistic expectations, and not to despair. I also add what I recall of Churchill's comment that "Democracy is the worst system, except for all the others."
In his Democracy in America, Tocqueville also forecast the preeminence of the United States and Russia as the two main global powers. In his book, he stated: "There are now two great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans. Each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world".
Brilliant. I'd guess that perhaps a considerable amount of these things he noted were attributes of American culture, not democratic culture as whole necessarily.
Valosken I'd thought them uniquely american traits, too, but since I'm only coming from that strata I didn't have the frame I now do. It's a very interesting idea.
+Valosken I'd say these traits are pretty general. Democracies, not just America, DO tend to slide towards the things Tocqueville mentioned in his work.
+Valosken that's a very interesting take, actually. I do think a lot of those conclusions apply to democracy/capitalism in general, but particularly here in the States, so i think you might be onto something
His book is: "Democracy in America", not "De la démocratie" itself. So there is a cultural element in it that no one should forget before reading the book.
They skipped one of Toqueville's best observations: the prevalence of voluntary associations in America, and all the great social and societal benefits it produced. This video only focused on his criticisms.
Aaron Lehman It does focus only on our criticisms. They aren’t trying to teach us about democracy as a whole, they are trying to teach us about its downsides specifically.
What is so true is that the majority of people get their world- views and even their moral codes from accepting the narratives spewed out by the self-interested media. Those who wish to genuinely gain knowledge are the sort of people who watch educational videos such as these, and follow up with further study, instead of automatically taking as true anything spouted by often ignorant journalists. Thank you for posting this video, School of Life.
His idea on money being the commonly used metric for the goodness/greatness of something still rings so true today. Even I want to have more money because of its consequent fame and status. Thanks for making me realize this and understanding that this has been making me restless and disappointed for quite some time now.
If Karl Marx saw this comment, what would he say? Rich people have been trying to convince you that making money makes you feel restless since beginning of capitalism.
Have you read de Tocqueville litters on Algeria,Algerians? His true identity comes out This so called intellectual preaching genocide, slavery, ethnic cleansing, to his government as long as it done to Africans by French or Europeans
I'm from the Philippines and De Tocqueville's principles are accurate when you look at democracy here. I'm ashamed of the current situation here and intellectuals are commonly shamed for sharing their insights or critique towards our democratic society. FML!!!
Have you read de Tocqueville litters on Algerian people. Algeria ? You are gonna be shocked by the hatered ,ethnic cleansing preaching, murder glorification.
(Sobs) This is what's been in my head for years And hearing that my criticisms aren't really what they are but a result of a way of just thinking critically with little bias, really gives me hope. Thank you Alexis.
This is the only video about Democracy in America that I've watched so far that helped me better understand anything de Tocqueville was trying to say this book. Thank you
This knowledge and videos must be shared to the world specially to those who could not understand English. We need to make these videos accessible to everyone because they summaries big ideas in a very entertaining way. I am willing to translate them into arabic and start sharing them in your channel using the same videos.
I typically do not respond videos but I had to watch this for a class. I can say after watching this video it really help me to understand this. This made me want to read about it further. Thank you for the awesome video it help me understand it completely.
wow mind blowing book it must be, i have never really heard about tocqueville before this video, now i am gonna try to find his masterpiece to have a good read, thank you again the school of life
Myles Sierevogel Hi there! I am sure you are a much kinder person than you think, since you are able to be so critical about yourself. Very few people do that. I think the sky is the best place to look at for all of us to learn humility and to re-gain perspective about our lives. That's why astrophysicists are probably the best teachers for this. Just search for " Carl Sagan on humility" on youtube.It is just a short video, but he really says it all. I also highly recommend you to watch Neil Degrasse Tyson's incredible documentary series " Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey". They are all online for free. The School of Life has also a lesson with this approach called: " The Wisdom of Space". Best wishes!
***** Thank you for that but It not that I think i'm most important person in the universe cause I know I am defiantly not more I have the appearance to other that i have to be right. when i know i don't know everything and acknowledge it. and try turn off in talking really hard as dont realise it till i'm too late.
Dear Alexis, it seems that your insights are still up to date anno 2021. Hopefully we near future will give you new insights and positive ones so that you’re thoughts can develop on ;). Thanks for uploading this video school of life.
nikito958 It's amazing how far people have dragged and misused the traditional idea of socialism in recent history. It has almost become impossible to discuss this classical idea. The basic idea of traditional socialism, to be put in a nutshell, is to suggest that working people should be in control of production and communities should be in control of their own lives. Ironically, many of these ideas were very widespread in American society in the 19th century. Further more, anyone who knows anything about communism understands that it was the exact opposite, people had no say and weren't in control of anything, you might as well call it government directed slavery.
broodwarplayer Communism in which sense? The stateless egalitarian moneyless society - or countries like the USSR which called themselves 'Communist' as a form of propaganda to distract from the fact that they were an authoritarian government with a State-Capitalist economy?
Polycube I think they called themselves socialists (USSR = Union of Socialist Sovjet Republics). It were western socialists who labelled Russia communist (and other socialist countries) to hide the fact that their socialist preferences turned out to be pretty awful. They did the same with the national -socialist party of a certain Adolf H and started labelling this socialist as extreme right wing. By the way, a moneyless society is a really bad idea because you then have to return to barter.
J10044 The USSR was run by the single party CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union). The US was also a major contributor in contributing to the misleading propaganda that they were a communist society, but they had the opposite reason for doing so; that was to demonize the political conception of socialism/communism by equating it to all the atrocities carried out by the USSR's authoritarian government. "you then have to return to barter." There's no barter either because there are no markets, resources are open to everyone to take and produce freely through common storehouses.
Great video but I also wish the video would have talked more about liberty. Liberty is a major theme of his work and how people are willing to sacrifice it in the idea of equality. It's something most seem to over look.
“Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville Thank you for helping to introduce more of the world to this great thinker. Today, his writings on democracy read more like incredible prophecy than 19th century observations. If only he could have lived long enough to witness that young, experimental democracy become the most powerful nation the world has ever seen. "The last great hope of earth" as Abraham Lincoln so eloquently described it.
I have "Democracy in America" sitting on my bookshelf. I really should find the time to read it because SO MUCH OF THIS IS SOOO TRUE OF AMERICA AND AMERICANS!! (I live in NYC, by the way.)
DeToqueville was mind-boggling brilliant & prophetically clear-eyed in his comments re: American. He should be synonymous w/ prescience b/c he hits it bang on the head. Wow, I was always so blown away by his perceptions & writing on the US.
A well done video. I agree with most everything said. However, it only tells one side of the sotry, which happens to be a small part of Tocqueville's opinion and contributions. Perhaps you can do a second part on Tocqueville that is 3 or 4 times longer where he speaks about the good qualities in the american democratic system. His main points were positive, and he merely pointed out some dangers.
Tocqueville had a lot of good things to say about American democracy too. His goal was not just to look at it's downsides but learn what lessons it had to offer and bring those principles which he deemed useful back to France.
I like how the image of Wilde accompanies the portion concerning the tyranny of the majority resulting in some being cut down to size. His wonderful contributions the English literary canon and underrated ideas about aesthetics, his ordeal particularly distasteful...it does lend additional significance to his work though at least.
Thanks to your videos, I learned so many things and I'm actually using this channel to study. However, there are some mistakes -some minor, some slightly bigger- in some parts of English subtitles. It would be wonderful if you could look into it. Keep up the good work!
Love the videos, but these are at least 50% quieter than anything else on youtube. Would be nice to watch these videos without fiddling with the volume every time.
I think democratic society has become somewhat self-aware of the things that De Tocqueville mentions in his book. I believe in recent times people are generally more skeptical of governmental choices and policies, and the structure of democracy in general, at least more than they have been in the past, the counterculture movement of the 1960's is a fairly good example in my opinion. I don't want to create a false "past/present" dichotomy though, these are just some random thoughts.
Hey!!! You should really do a 'literature' video about Giovanni Papini. His books are profound and clever. He teaches matters of life in an anthitetic fashion. They are really cool.
If you like Tocqueville's work, check out Joseph Di Maistre's works- Against Rousseau and the St. Petersburg Dialogues. He makes similar criticisms of democracy. On the American side, check out Adams' criticisms of democracy in: Gordon S. Wood's Friends Divided: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Specifically, check out Chapters 6-8 for Adams' argument against democracy and oligarchy. Wood does a great job in understanding Adams' persective. Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg's The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality. Also Durkheim's Suicide and writings on morals and religion.
"The book that wasn't sold out is not good" its the same with this video :( and it grieves me that although this video has 230,00 views at kmost doesnt mean that it is not a good video. School of Life thank you so much for making such wonderful videos! :)
I'd like to mention a RUclips clip from the movie The Big Short, it's called "Mark Baum meets with CDO manager" I think. The CDO manager is a rich douchebag who explains to Mark Baum what a scam the CDO's are. At the end of dinner Mark was sickened with the CDO guy. The CDO guy says, "You think I'm a parasite, don't you, Mr. Baum. But apparently society values me very much. I'll tell you what, you tell me how much you're worth, and I'll tell you how much i'm worth." Mark Baum replied, "God, you're a huge piece of shit." For the CDO manager, the ONLY measuring stick for the worth of a human was his monetary net worth. The scene reflects the conclusions this Frenchman drew perfectly.
The Constitution of the United States is like one of those beautiful creations of human diligence which give their inventors glory and riches but remain sterile in the hands of others. Contemporary Mexico has shown that-----De Toequeville
Excellent video, as true for America the 1800's as it is today. I have a video request. I apologize if its already been done and I just haven't found it yet but could you do one on education, specifically on the various styles popular today ie: Waldorff, Montesorri, Bank St., etc... are any better than the rest and also what in your estimation seems to be the most cohesive, progressive and effective teaching method particularly for young children, is there one currently or has it yet to be created/discovered? Thanks!
More than ten years ago, a French sociologist (Raymond Boudon) made an update of the concept of "tyranny of the majority" and raise a new problem : the "tyranny of the minority". He shows how small groups of activists, very well organized, succeed to impose their ideas through society even though they are a minority. It's very true when you think of what happens with woke movement now.
Democracy, as a form of government, is still a work in progress and will continue to evolve and adapt in ever-changing political and social landscapes.
Here are the 5 critiques of Alexis De Tocqueville: 1. Democracy breeds materialism. 1:20 2. Democracy breeds envy and shame. 2:21 3. The tyranny of majority 3:52 4. Democracy turns us against authority 4:36 5. Democracy undermines freedom of mind 5:23 Enjoy!
What is the relationship between American democracy and protestantism. A lot of differences Tocqueville, observed can also be attributed to the difference between protestant and catholic culture.
+Rijogs Aha I just saw the Max Weber Video. A lot of answers are there. I never realised how much my own ethics are influenced by protestantism. Very insightful! I think its time to study about the rise and development of protestantism. any suggestions? Thank you so much for putting together al these wonderful video's! Really life enriching and even in a way life transforming!
Tivawarin Rathratree Hi there! If you search on youtube for " Alain de Botton Status Anxiety", you can see the man and hear the voice for two and a half hours. It is a great documentary, very much related to the ideas in this video.
Hi! Thanks for all video about sociology BUT what about Auguste Comte (founder of the discipline of sociology)? in my opinion this should be the first video!
I take notice of a kind of wisdom and dexterity in some children which on occasions I do not find in adults. It takes me by surprise. I wonder what would the parents of such kids think and do if other adults in the community didn't want such kids to get ahead of themselves, didn't want them to grow, didn't want them to prosper. Ethically and morally it would be departure from duty of care, lack of responsibility to let the community walk over the distinguished, prosperous career that their child could have.
Tocqueville's truth can be seen even through this video.. the lack of a desire to draw any conclusion about his work at the end because the majority is the judge.
how is it that these shortcomings of democracy were known long before it spread around the globe (as the ultimate best social-political system to apply, apparently), but they were unfamiliar for most of us that live the system today. You know, a lot of conflicts we see arising nowdays stem from these shortcomings. One would think that these should have become common knowledge for our generation to better address problems of our times.
When Tocqueville wrote about America's belief in social mobility through hard work had origins in the nation's founding as a Puritan settlement, thus establishing "The Protestant Work Ethic." Also, when this video talked about the Tyranny of the Majority, it was meant to refer to the marginalisation of minority groups under popular mass rule. Tocqueville's partner to his trip to the Americas, Beaumont, were disgusted by racial divisions and slavery in the United States and made reference to that in the book.
Are we just going to ignore that the subtitles say "his friend who stabbed a boomer" instead of "his friend Gustave de Beaumont"
It did brighten up my morning though!
lol thanks for correction
Well the prononciation is wrong
no..we are not..
I think the Editors must have thought that was pretty amusing too - so they decided to keep it in!
I love how School of Life always end their videos with a (more-or-less) "It's not good or bad, it's just the way it is."
Thanks for the Sociology videos.
Ben Aaron I don't understand that position within Sociology. Surely, studying society should be used to draw various educated conclusions to what is bad and then change society for the better; rather than appease it.
Gray Beard It depends on what basis you argue. There are many different judges of 'goodness' or 'badness' (utilitarian, Christian morality, liberal, etc.) Therefore it seems to be better to let people choose their own measure and judge for themselves. That's just how I see it though, could be totally wrong.
marknufc29 That's true for ethics, every culture has varying behaviors that clash with each other and none are more right or wrong than the others. However, morality transcends ethics. Slavery, for instance, used to be ethically acceptable and the moral principles were only thought about by a few, but it was fundamentally immoral all along. Sociologists at the time appeased masters in their choice to hold slaves and saw it as a valid cultural choice.
+Gray Beard ... Is there a difference between morality and ethics? If so please enlighten me. I always thought they were approximately the same thing. I.e.: morality is how we behave; ethics is about how we behave. Morality is first order discourse on how we should behave. Ethics is second order discourse. Thus the term 'Ethics' is treated as equivalent to the term 'Moral Philosophy'. I am seriously troubled as to how 'morals can transcend ethics' because I do not and cannot believe in moral relativism. Surely some societies are bad and others good. In the same way that some actions are bad and some are good. Or some people are bad and some are good.
+marknufc29 ... You might as well let people judge for themselves what side of the road they should drive on.
Alexis de Toqueville should be consider like a prophet of the modern era. Everything he said about democraty is 100% right.
you don't need to be a prophet to predict behavior. you just have to understand human nature.
You are absolutely right. Tocqueville's work should be read in every school in america.
Reading Democracy in america as a student literally changed the way I live my life. It's a fantastic work, with incredible insight into what makes us product of our democratic system, what are the flaws and even how we can correct them.
What would he say about Trump ? It changed what about the way you live your life? Enlighten us.
Except Tyranny of the Majority. That has not happened and apparently the opposite (50/50 split) can be just as bad.
Oh, do you really think so ?
Tyranny of the Majority has not happened ? In a "right-minded" society which praises multicultiralism, massive immigration, etc, and consider every person that could be against such process as a fascist/racist/nationalist/chauvinist or even nazi, and so many others sophisms ?
I don't know where you come from, but here in Europe, I can tell you tiranny of the majority is in place since many years, and everything is done to make people ashamed of their own country, history and culture.
Am I the only one who feels excited once the maracas starts playing?
Yeah, I do the same. Quiet exited, especially when a new video comes.
+QuetzLaw I find myself moving along to it
QuetzLaw hahaha totally, it's as if Pavlov had trained me to watch these videos.
No
Couldn't stop laughing 😂😂😂
Alexis De Tocqueville "It is odd to watch with what feverish ardour Americans pursue prosperity, ever tormented by the shadowy suspicion that they might not have chosen the shortest route to get it. They cleave to the things of this world as if assured they will never die, and yet rush to snatch any that comes within their reach, as if they expected to stop living before relishing them. Death steps in, in the end, and stops them, before they have grown tired of this futile pursuit of that complete felicity which always escapes them." my favorite quote still as relevant as it was nearly 180 YRS LATER..
"Democracy was fatally biased toward mediocrity."
This is one of those sentences which bring out the truths we want to ignore, so they make us uncomfortable.
Please provide an example
@@mr12aTwdym an example??
Think of it like this: if corruption is beneficial and everyone thinks they can get away with it from time to time, most people will not speak against it even though they know it to be wrong or deal with it in a very shallow fashion. Like when u have a very good lawyer you can get away with a case. Makes any sense to u?
George Will called _Democracy in America_ "the best book written about one nation by a citizen of another."
Coolidge Dollar,
To bad America isn’t a Democracy you dolt...
"Democracy is fatally biased towards mediocrity" @5:13
That sentence struck me too! So true!
21th Agust 2019. I was shocked and my tear burst out when I heard those words.
Because it is the truth
Yep, look what it did in France.
Thank you for both presenting de Touqueville's criticisms of democracy and also reminding us that this doesn't make democracy bad on balance. You counsel us to realistic expectations, and not to despair.
I also add what I recall of Churchill's comment that "Democracy is the worst system, except for all the others."
Well said
In his Democracy in America, Tocqueville also forecast the preeminence of the United States and Russia as the two main global powers. In his book, he stated: "There are now two great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans. Each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world".
He didn't mention China...
@@Vossenman China was not powerful 50 years ago. It became what it is now very recently
Brilliant. I'd guess that perhaps a considerable amount of these things he noted were attributes of American culture, not democratic culture as whole necessarily.
Valosken I'd thought them uniquely american traits, too, but since I'm only coming from that strata I didn't have the frame I now do. It's a very interesting idea.
+Valosken I'd say these traits are pretty general. Democracies, not just America, DO tend to slide towards the things Tocqueville mentioned in his work.
+Valosken Yeah in Athens people didn't assume that a book that didn't make a lot of money couldn't be good.
+Valosken that's a very interesting take, actually. I do think a lot of those conclusions apply to democracy/capitalism in general, but particularly here in the States, so i think you might be onto something
His book is: "Democracy in America", not "De la démocratie" itself. So there is a cultural element in it that no one should forget before reading the book.
They skipped one of Toqueville's best observations: the prevalence of voluntary associations in America, and all the great social and societal benefits it produced.
This video only focused on his criticisms.
Good comment, I enjoyed that part as well.
Aaron Lehman It does focus only on our criticisms. They aren’t trying to teach us about democracy as a whole, they are trying to teach us about its downsides specifically.
Exactly. The video makes it look like Tocqueville despised America, which is not true.
@@jeansant94 the video explicitly says "detoqueville is not anti-democracy or anti-american"
This channel is teaching me more things than I learnt in over a decade of education..
I think you could do a really good reading of The Great Gatsby using Tocqueville's philosophy,
That Gatsby fella?! He's great!
What is so true is that the majority of people get their world- views and even their moral codes from accepting the narratives spewed out by the self-interested media. Those who wish to genuinely gain knowledge are the sort of people who watch educational videos such as these, and follow up with further study, instead of automatically taking as true anything spouted by often ignorant journalists. Thank you for posting this video, School of Life.
His idea on money being the commonly used metric for the goodness/greatness of something still rings so true today. Even I want to have more money because of its consequent fame and status. Thanks for making me realize this and understanding that this has been making me restless and disappointed for quite some time now.
If Karl Marx saw this comment, what would he say? Rich people have been trying to convince you that making money makes you feel restless since beginning of capitalism.
I recommend to EVERYONE to read tocqueville's work. He was truly a genius. It
+louisaahh Thanks
From France
Have you read de Tocqueville litters on Algeria,Algerians?
His true identity comes out
This so called intellectual preaching genocide, slavery, ethnic cleansing, to his government as long as it done to Africans by French or Europeans
I'm from the Philippines and De Tocqueville's principles are accurate when you look at democracy here. I'm ashamed of the current situation here and intellectuals are commonly shamed for sharing their insights or critique towards our democratic society. FML!!!
Have you read de Tocqueville litters on Algerian people. Algeria ?
You are gonna be shocked by the hatered ,ethnic cleansing preaching, murder glorification.
(Sobs)
This is what's been in my head for years
And hearing that my criticisms aren't really what they are but a result of a way of just thinking critically with little bias, really gives me hope. Thank you Alexis.
This is the only video about Democracy in America that I've watched so far that helped me better understand anything de Tocqueville was trying to say this book. Thank you
Man, this dude is needed in our generation
This knowledge and videos must be shared to the world specially to those who could not understand English. We need to make these videos accessible to everyone because they summaries big ideas in a very entertaining way. I am willing to translate them into arabic and start sharing them in your channel using the same videos.
I typically do not respond videos but I had to watch this for a class. I can say after watching this video it really help me to understand this. This made me want to read about it further. Thank you for the awesome video it help me understand it completely.
This channel is pretty damn awesome, just sayin'.
mchurch72 Thanks for your opinion .. I choose to ignore it for lack of substance.
mchurch72 Happy to exercise some brain cells .. do you wish to elucidate rather than pontificate?
mchurch72 I see .. so assumptions rather than elaboration. I guess I'll go back to ignoring your pointless comments then. Thanks for clarifying.
dark side of democracy!
wow mind blowing book it must be, i have never really heard about tocqueville before this video, now i am gonna try to find his masterpiece to have a good read, thank you again the school of life
I like the fact that I subscribed to you. I go outside, smoke a "ciggy", learn something new. you are expanding my reality. thank you :)
One of my favourite SOL videos. I am, on the back of it, going to buy Democracy in America. There are so many exciting and stimulating ideas in here.
I had a hard time reading a article about him, but this video really help and I understand it.
Ohhhhh America...
Interesting thoughts! Never heard of Tocqueville before now, thanks for making this video!
Recently discovered this man, Tocqueville will provide a fantastic read.
would you ever do video on humility or how to become humble? as unfortunately I find myself too pretentious.
Myles Sierevogel Check out the school of life videos on Eastern Philosophy, they talk about the issue of humility quite a lot.
Myles Sierevogel Hi there! I am sure you are a much kinder person than you think, since you are able to be so critical about yourself. Very few people do that.
I think the sky is the best place to look at for all of us to learn humility and to re-gain perspective about our lives. That's why astrophysicists are probably the best teachers for this. Just search for " Carl Sagan on humility" on youtube.It is just a short video, but he really says it all. I also highly recommend you to watch Neil Degrasse Tyson's incredible documentary series " Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey". They are all online for free. The School of Life has also a lesson with this approach called: " The Wisdom of Space".
Best wishes!
***** Thank you for that but It not that I think i'm most important person in the universe cause I know I am defiantly not more I have the appearance to other that i have to be right. when i know i don't know everything and acknowledge it. and try turn off in talking really hard as dont realise it till i'm too late.
Myles Sierevogel It's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.
coweatsman But nobody perfect
Dear Alexis, it seems that your insights are still up to date anno 2021. Hopefully we near future will give you new insights and positive ones so that you’re thoughts can develop on ;).
Thanks for uploading this video school of life.
Can you do a video on living under communism. This was interesting
Chaz Mania you probably mean totalitarian socialism
nikito958 It's amazing how far people have dragged and misused the traditional idea of socialism in recent history. It has almost become impossible to discuss this classical idea. The basic idea of traditional socialism, to be put in a nutshell, is to suggest that working people should be in control of production and communities should be in control of their own lives. Ironically, many of these ideas were very widespread in American society in the 19th century. Further more, anyone who knows anything about communism understands that it was the exact opposite, people had no say and weren't in control of anything, you might as well call it government directed slavery.
broodwarplayer Communism in which sense? The stateless egalitarian moneyless society - or countries like the USSR which called themselves 'Communist' as a form of propaganda to distract from the fact that they were an authoritarian government with a State-Capitalist economy?
Polycube I think they called themselves socialists (USSR = Union of Socialist Sovjet Republics). It were western socialists who labelled Russia communist (and other socialist countries) to hide the fact that their socialist preferences turned out to be pretty awful. They did the same with the national -socialist party of a certain Adolf H and started labelling this socialist as extreme right wing. By the way, a moneyless society is a really bad idea because you then have to return to barter.
J10044 The USSR was run by the single party CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union). The US was also a major contributor in contributing to the misleading propaganda that they were a communist society, but they had the opposite reason for doing so; that was to demonize the political conception of socialism/communism by equating it to all the atrocities carried out by the USSR's authoritarian government.
"you then have to return to barter." There's no barter either because there are no markets, resources are open to everyone to take and produce freely through common storehouses.
Came here to understand tocqueville effect but gain so much more insight about him
Great video but I also wish the video would have talked more about liberty. Liberty is a major theme of his work and how people are willing to sacrifice it in the idea of equality. It's something most seem to over look.
“Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville
Thank you for helping to introduce more of the world to this great thinker. Today, his writings on democracy read more like incredible prophecy than 19th century observations. If only he could have lived long enough to witness that young, experimental democracy become the most powerful nation the world has ever seen. "The last great hope of earth" as Abraham Lincoln so eloquently described it.
Cheers to School of Life for making a pop philosophy channel.
How can anyone in their right mind criticize The School of Life. These videos are very good.
I have "Democracy in America" sitting on my bookshelf. I really should find the time to read it because SO MUCH OF THIS IS SOOO TRUE OF AMERICA AND AMERICANS!! (I live in NYC, by the way.)
DeToqueville was mind-boggling brilliant & prophetically clear-eyed in his comments re: American. He should be synonymous w/ prescience b/c he hits it bang on the head. Wow, I was always so blown away by his perceptions & writing on the US.
This explains me(as American) and my love of European culture so much.
Technically you are european 🤔🤷♂️
I'm french and i came for Alexis De Tocqueville.
@@Raisonnance. he might be an african american or asian.
A well done video. I agree with most everything said. However, it only tells one side of the sotry, which happens to be a small part of Tocqueville's opinion and contributions. Perhaps you can do a second part on Tocqueville that is 3 or 4 times longer where he speaks about the good qualities in the american democratic system. His main points were positive, and he merely pointed out some dangers.
How beautiful De Tocqueville puts it...
You guys should watch Alain's documentary on Status Anxiety, at one point he discuses this
Interesting video! You should totally do a Political Theory video on Rosa Luxemburg!
Tocqueville had a lot of good things to say about American democracy too. His goal was not just to look at it's downsides but learn what lessons it had to offer and bring those principles which he deemed useful back to France.
Loving your channel! Can you do a video on Gustave Le Bon?!?
Another excellent video.
Could you perhaps do a video about Anarchism...
Still very relevant 200 years later
I like how the image of Wilde accompanies the portion concerning the tyranny of the majority resulting in some being cut down to size. His wonderful contributions the English literary canon and underrated ideas about aesthetics, his ordeal particularly distasteful...it does lend additional significance to his work though at least.
This was brilliant. Thank you so much.
Can you please make a video about Oscar Wilde?
Seconded.
Thanks to your videos, I learned so many things and I'm actually using this channel to study. However, there are some mistakes -some minor, some slightly bigger- in some parts of English subtitles. It would be wonderful if you could look into it. Keep up the good work!
Could you make a video underlining how democratic societies have changed from Tocqueville days till now? I think that would be very interesting.
could you turn up the volume in the next videos? Just a little bit :)
thanks
I agree. The video itself is well done and intelligently made. Unfortunately, the narrator's voice is very sof-spoken.
+Jason Terschak You're right.Still, it's OK by me.At least he doesn't speak like CPGrey!
peroz1000 yeah, it's not bad, I just think it would be better if they turned up a little
Love the videos, but these are at least 50% quieter than anything else on youtube. Would be nice to watch these videos without fiddling with the volume every time.
your channel is amazing ,can you please do a video on why people love war so much ??
I think democratic society has become somewhat self-aware of the things that De Tocqueville mentions in his book.
I believe in recent times people are generally more skeptical of governmental choices and policies, and the structure of democracy in general, at least more than they have been in the past, the counterculture movement of the 1960's is a fairly good example in my opinion.
I don't want to create a false "past/present" dichotomy though, these are just some random thoughts.
Point 4
Also point 3 but the majority always chances because is always a ~1% difference after every elections.
Hey!!! You should really do a 'literature' video about Giovanni Papini. His books are profound and clever. He teaches matters of life in an anthitetic fashion. They are really cool.
I bet their shop has so awesome materials.
If you like Tocqueville's work, check out Joseph Di Maistre's works- Against Rousseau and the St. Petersburg Dialogues. He makes similar criticisms of democracy.
On the American side, check out Adams' criticisms of democracy in:
Gordon S. Wood's Friends Divided: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Specifically, check out Chapters 6-8 for Adams' argument against democracy and oligarchy. Wood does a great job in understanding Adams' persective.
Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg's The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality.
Also Durkheim's Suicide and writings on morals and religion.
"The book that wasn't sold out is not good" its the same with this video :( and it grieves me that although this video has 230,00 views at kmost doesnt mean that it is not a good video. School of Life thank you so much for making such wonderful videos! :)
I need to watch it again.
I'd like to mention a RUclips clip from the movie The Big Short, it's called "Mark Baum meets with CDO manager" I think. The CDO manager is a rich douchebag who explains to Mark Baum what a scam the CDO's are. At the end of dinner Mark was sickened with the CDO guy. The CDO guy says, "You think I'm a parasite, don't you, Mr. Baum. But apparently society values me very much. I'll tell you what, you tell me how much you're worth, and I'll tell you how much i'm worth." Mark Baum replied, "God, you're a huge piece of shit."
For the CDO manager, the ONLY measuring stick for the worth of a human was his monetary net worth. The scene reflects the conclusions this Frenchman drew perfectly.
about 170 years ago and Tocqueville's observations are still true today.
Can you please make a video about Pierre Bourdieu?. Your videos are amazing!
It's surreal how accurate these observations are to today's democratic society.
Amazingly interesting! Thanks.
Gonna read it.
Please School of Life, do more videos about Sociology
The Constitution of the United States is like one of those beautiful creations of human diligence which give their inventors glory and riches but remain sterile in the hands of others.
Contemporary Mexico has shown that-----De Toequeville
Excellent video, as true for America the 1800's as it is today. I have a video request. I apologize if its already been done and I just haven't found it yet but could you do one on education, specifically on the various styles popular today ie: Waldorff, Montesorri, Bank St., etc... are any better than the rest and also what in your estimation seems to be the most cohesive, progressive and effective teaching method particularly for young children, is there one currently or has it yet to be created/discovered? Thanks!
His observation of America is universal. Let's work harder not be broke.
More than ten years ago, a French sociologist (Raymond Boudon) made an update of the concept of "tyranny of the majority" and raise a new problem : the "tyranny of the minority". He shows how small groups of activists, very well organized, succeed to impose their ideas through society even though they are a minority. It's very true when you think of what happens with woke movement now.
Democracy, as a form of government, is still a work in progress and will continue to evolve and adapt in ever-changing political and social landscapes.
Finally a voice that doesnt make me want to smash my puter. Thank you for some moderation and balance.
I was waiting for one on Tocqueville! Great stuff!
Damn. This is one good channel!
mchurch72 Not true. Most of the videos don't even touch the subject, like the Lego ones.
woah... this is still so true today...
This is the best episode.
Here are the 5 critiques of Alexis De Tocqueville:
1. Democracy breeds materialism. 1:20
2. Democracy breeds envy and shame. 2:21
3. The tyranny of majority 3:52
4. Democracy turns us against authority 4:36
5. Democracy undermines freedom of mind 5:23
Enjoy!
What is the relationship between American democracy and protestantism. A lot of differences Tocqueville, observed can also be attributed to the difference between protestant and catholic culture.
+Rijogs Aha I just saw the Max Weber Video. A lot of answers are there. I never realised how much my own ethics are influenced by protestantism. Very insightful! I think its time to study about the rise and development of protestantism. any suggestions? Thank you so much for putting together al these wonderful video's! Really life enriching and even in a way life transforming!
My favorite chanel as of right now
Don't forget to cover Edmund Burke -- he would be a nice complement to the video on Rousseau.
Incredible work of philosophy.
You don't ultimate authority to everyone. You give ultimate authority to the majority
Charming voice.
Tivawarin Rathratree Hi there! If you search on youtube for " Alain de Botton Status Anxiety", you can see the man and hear the voice for two and a half hours. It is a great documentary, very much related to the ideas in this video.
Great Thinker, Who analyzed and promoted democracy
Very interested
Any chance for a Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn video? That would be the perfect follow up to this!
Hi! Thanks for all video about sociology BUT what about Auguste Comte (founder of the discipline of sociology)? in my opinion this should be the first video!
You are brilliant, Alain
Sounds like he was smarter and more insightful than any politician in our entire country.
The best youtube channel that i ever watched 👏
1:18 Democracy breeds Materialist Culture; 2:19 Breeds Miscalculation, Envy & Shame; 3:50 Generates a Tyranny of Majority; 4:30 Breeds contempt to the successful; 5:20 Undermines Freedom of Mind.
I take notice of a kind of wisdom and dexterity in some children which on occasions I do not find in adults. It takes me by surprise.
I wonder what would the parents of such kids think and do if other adults in the community didn't want such kids to get ahead of themselves, didn't want them to grow, didn't want them to prosper.
Ethically and morally it would be departure from duty of care, lack of responsibility to let the community walk over the distinguished, prosperous career that their child could have.
Tocqueville's truth can be seen even through this video.. the lack of a desire to draw any conclusion about his work at the end because the majority is the judge.
how is it that these shortcomings of democracy were known long before it spread around the globe (as the ultimate best social-political system to apply, apparently), but they were unfamiliar for most of us that live the system today.
You know, a lot of conflicts we see arising nowdays stem from these shortcomings. One would think that these should have become common knowledge for our generation to better address problems of our times.
So what system could be better ⁉️ Let's think about that now ❣️👑🤴👸🐗💙🙏🦹♀️💫🍃🍃🍃🍃
Thank you
When Tocqueville wrote about America's belief in social mobility through hard work had origins in the nation's founding as a Puritan settlement, thus establishing "The Protestant Work Ethic." Also, when this video talked about the Tyranny of the Majority, it was meant to refer to the marginalisation of minority groups under popular mass rule. Tocqueville's partner to his trip to the Americas, Beaumont, were disgusted by racial divisions and slavery in the United States and made reference to that in the book.
Old Regime and the Revolution would have been interesting to include