2.
A society devoted to equal opportunity weakens an individual because more people are trying to achieve what that person is. Instead of being one of a few striving for something, that person is one of many, all going for the same achievement. This leads people to look for the shortest short cut or to work tirelessly and if they believe that reaching their goal when they want to, people switch to another goal and try to reach that. Tocqueville observes this and records this when he says, "Add to this taste for prosperity a social state in which neither law nor custom holds anyone in one place, and that is a great further stimulus to this restlessness of temper. One will then find people continually changing path for fear of missing the shortest short cut leading to happiness." (166) One of the most important statements in this textual evidence is the passage, "neither law nor custom holds anyone in one place,". This is important because it states that the law or society hold people to limits because of their race, religion, intelligence, or other abilities. Anyone can strive to reach any peak they would like without being hindered or restricted based on who they are. Because of this, more people are trying to achieve the same standard. In modern day, this is similar to recruiting. More and more people are trying to get better at basketball, therefore one may not be good enough to play at the highest level or even at all. However, if they would have played 90 years ago, when African-Americans were not allowed to play and basketball was not quite as prominent and popular, they may have been one of the best players in the country. Tocqueville observed that people were competing with more people because people were starting to reach new heights.
5. Tocqueville believes that Americans are restless because they want what is unattainable. He says that Americans see others with something, and they want it, so they somewhat drop what they were working on to try to attain this new attraction. Tocqueville is more specific when he says, "A man who has set his heart on nothing but the good things of this world is always in a hurry, for he has only a limited time in which to find them, get them, and enjoy them. Remembrance of the shortness of life continually goads him on. Apart from the goods he has, he thinks of a thousand others which death will prevent him from tasting if he does not hurry." Tocqueville is saying that Americans are constantly looking for a new hobby or "toy" to have and they hurry through the things that they worked hard for because they have seen or found a new goal to strive for. This is similar to a small child. As a child of about six or seven, one is always looking for a new toy to play with. The child may have gotten a new toy the day before but now has seen a new toy on TV and wants that one instead. The toddler completely forgets about their new toy and focuses all of their efforts and attention on this new toy. Americans are also like this, but instead of little toys Americans focus on promotions, stocks, cars, phones, and other accessories to make their lives better. Americans know what they want, but that is because we seem to want everything.
Mitch Tanner
