This hadn’t occurred to me before, the part I bolded below, I mean:
I was always struck by Alexis de Tocqueville’s comment that Americans were on the way to being a democratic people long before establishing a democratic government. We served on colonial juries where we listened to both sides before we rendered judgment on our fellow citizens. We had professional, civic, and social institutions that taught us how to work together. We fought the Revolutionary War against the British Crown, a war in which perhaps a third of our citizens were on the British side and yet after the war there were no show trials, no recriminations, no mass graves. To do it the other way around—to begin with a democratic government and hope for a people with a democratic outlook and habits to grow as a result—is more often than not a fool’s errand…. Don’t all people yearn for freedom?†we have asked. And we assume the answer is yes. But the answer is no. Some people, perhaps most people, prefer other goods. Indeed, some people would rather be holy than free, or safe than free, or be instructed in how they should lead their lives rather than be free. Many prefer the comfort of strong answers already given rather than the openness and hazards of freedom. There are those who would never dream of substituting their will for the imam’s or pushing their desires over the customs and traditions of their families. Some men kiss their chains.
—John Agresto, writing in Commentary
I wonder how rare that is in the history of revolutions?
And 200-years later the Left conducts show-trials in The Media they operate, and would gladly fill mass graves behind the facade of Gov. and inflict recriminations equally.
It is very, very rare. Most people are the result of their cultures and experiences. Independence, self reliance and freedom are not the conditions most societiies encourage. That is why so many prefer the comfort of their chains. Even in the USA one only need look at our ghettoes and college campuses to see who individual responsibility and hard work have been rejected for government cheese and the promise of “change.”
Well, there were some Tories that Had to flee to Canada, but It was much better for them, compared to the situation of those Ukrainians and other ethnicities that Stalin Uprooted.
I will be reposting this in it’s entirety, proper attribution, of course. It’s something some have forgotten and others never knew.
Thank You,
gfa