Alexis Cheered: Oscar Booed By Phil Trupp French historian Alexis de Tocqueville praised American democracy in his classic 1838 book, Democracy in America. We were the hope of the West, the Frenchman wrote. We would overcome aristocracy and and create a vibrant middle class. De Tocquevilles review infuriated Europes aristocrats who took revenge in sponsoring a series of hack ghost writers and historians who smeared America as a backwater of bumbling hayseeds. Later came a truly original critic: the inimitable Oscar Wilde.The following is a sampling of Wildes views concerning American civilization: * English people are far more interested in American barbarism than they are in American civilization. * We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language. * America has never quite forgiven Europe for having been discovered somewhat earlier in history than itself. * America is the noisiest country that ever existed. * I am told that pork-packing is the most lucrative profession in America, after politics. * In America the young are always ready to give those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their experience. * In America the President reigns for four years, and Journalism governs forever and ever. L-R: Alexis de Tocqueville; Oscar Wilde
Posted on: Fri, 09 May 2014 01:54:28 +0000
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