Alexis de Tocqueville warned that as the economy and government of America got bigger, citizens could become smaller: less practiced in the forms of everyday power, more dependent on vast distant social machines, more isolated and atomized--and therefore more susceptible to despotism. He warned that if the "habits of the heart" fed by civic clubs and active self-government evaporated, citizens would regress to pure egoism. They would stop thinking about things greater than their immediate circle. Public life would disappear. And that would only accelerate their own disempowerment. This is painfully close to a description of the United States since Trump and Europe since Brexit. And the only way to reverse this vicious cycle of retreat and atrophy is to reverse it: to find a sense of purpose that is greater than the self, and to exercise power with others and for others in democratic life. .Eric Liu
About This Quote
The quote above is taken from The Power of Gratitude book by Dr. Robert Emmons. The book is about the power of gratitude which Dr. Emmons says will make you happy.
It deals with the difference between happiness and gratitude, what you can do to become happier, how to develop a gratitude habit, etc. However, the quote above is what I found most interesting in this book. It was written in 2000 but seems apt for today's society especially in the context of Trump's win in the U.S.A., Brexit in the UK and other countries where political systems are crumbling under the pressure of their own citizens.
Source: Youre More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizens Guide To Making Change Happen
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