Essay 89: How American Society Appears Both Agitated And Monotonous (Vol. 2 Pt. 3 Ch. 17)

Essay Read by Constituting America Founder, Actress Janine Turner

The essays in our study reference the following edition of Democracy In America: University of Chicago Press – 1st edition translated by Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop. Today’s essay references pages 587 (start at chapter 17 heading) – 588 of this edition of Democracy in America.

In his masterpiece, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville interrogates the currents that shape American democratic society. One feature he investigates concerns how American society can simultaneously appear monotonous and agitated.

De Tocqueville describes the agitation as a constantly changing landscape of shifting laws, fortunes, and ideas. It is a society constantly in motion and seemingly unsettled, driven by a restless pursuit of something else, something more. This shifting is so constant that, in the long term, it becomes rather predictable and, in De Tocqueville’s words, boring.

It is freedom that leads to this predictable restlessness. And the shared engagement in this restlessness makes men alike in their habits, values, and actions. 

This differs from an aristocratic society. Nothing changes in an aristocratic society grounded as it is on accidents of birth, not of individual choice. Life is dictated by tradition, inheritance, and family rather than opportunity or choice. However, all men in it are different, pursuing individual passions, interests, and ideas that have no material impact on society.

The agitation and similarity of democratic people emerge from their pursuit of wealth. Individuals must constantly pursue material gain because, De Tocqueville argues, monied transactions are the only way to obtain cooperation in a free society. This, along with the diminishing value of birth or profession, means the pursuit of wealth is the most significant distinguishing characteristic amongst a democratic people. This pursuit causes the restless motion of American society.

At the same time, this drive to accumulate wealth to advance and achieve status means people act in particular ways to succeed. These actions drive change but also paint the monotonous picture of American society that De Tocqueville describes. The pursuit of wealth drives men toward industry. Success in the industry is found through regular habits and long, uniform actions, which men see in others and seek to emulate.

Over time, this pursuit creates a constantly changing society while simultaneously creating a monochromatic populace—in other words, a simultaneously agitated and monotonous society.

The moral philosopher Adam Smith also examined the motivations behind people’s actions. Smith was keenly interested in what drives individual actions and shapes interactions between people. His two most famous works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (WoN) (1776), focus on these actions.

One of Smith’s most famous lines from WoN states, “it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.”

This is commonly read as a self-interested argument: that individuals’ actions are only motivated by selfish interests and greed. However, if read in the context of the Theory of Moral Sentiments, this statement can be read in the framework of sympathy. In other words, to get what we want, we naturally anticipate the needs, feelings, wants, and desires of others. So, individualism is closely tied to community.

This idea is reflected in the opening line of TMS, “How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it.”

This interest in others drives our actions and shapes our worldview. It helps us identify what we see as good and noble actions and shapes our opinion of what we see as detrimental, harmful, or evil actions. We then try to emulate those things that are good while avoiding and shunning those things and people we think are bad.

If we use this understanding to examine De Tocqueville’s claims about American society, we see something interesting. De Tocqueville’s interpretation can appear to be an argument, claiming that Americans have a myopic pursuit of wealth, which creates a boring and, at worst, greedy monoculture that promotes personal gain over community benefits.

Viewed another way, De Tocqueville’s observation is a harmonizing one. The opportunity to participate in a shared pursuit of wealth, or material gain, is leveling. This shared pursuit bonds people by encouraging shared values and producing shared beliefs. These mores bond society together, creating the stability of monotony while maintaining its agitated character.

In De Tocqueville’s own words the people are, “like travelers dispersed in a great forest in which all paths end at the same point.” In this way they are, “insensibly brought nearer to one another.” He further argues that, “All peoples who take for the object of their studies and imitation, not such and such a man, but man himself, will in the end encounter each other in the same mores, like these travelers.”

Kirk Higgins serves as the Senior Director of content at the Bill of Rights Institute. There, he has led several major curricula and content projects, including the Institute’s comprehensive U.S. history resource, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. In addition to BRI’s curriculum development, Kirk manages the Institute’s video content and scholar network.

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