Volume CXXXIII, Number 18 March 1, 2002 f

Tocqueville and wanting to do it all
INA HOXHA

It's obvious that American society has changed since Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America in 1835. Since Tocqueville is one of my favorite authors of political theory, I would like to continue to use him as a basis for evaluating modern American society and politics and to see how far we have moved-for better or for worse-from that time.

The continuous desire for equality in America seems to pervade all the aspects of life, not only politics. In chapter 13 of volume 2, Tocqueville insightfully observes that Americans aspire to material prosperity with a feverish anxiety, making them restless in their desire to enjoy as many pleasures as possible in a limited time.

A result of this insatiable drive for comfort is that Americans are generally incapable of sustaining enduring efforts toward one goal because they are so accustomed to instant gratification.

Equality, he points out, is another cause of this restlessness. Equality can never be complete, because inequalities of talent and intelligence always exist. Yet the more equal conditions become, the more noticeable and irritating the slightest inequalities become, and the more insatiable the longing for equality becomes as well. This insatiable longing is the cause of general anxiousness and uneasiness. In trying to paraphrase Tocqueville, I realized how many things he says in one small chapter.

Tocqueville's theory hit home for me when a good friend told me that I always put work before my friends, and that it doesn't make her feel very special. I responded that I had my priorities straight and that there wasn't anything wrong with that.

After some thought, I realized that Americans have a very interesting notion that somehow they can divide everything, even time, into equal proportions. My question to myself-and to you-is whether or not it is possible (or should be) to categorize time this way.

A common expression exemplifying this notion is, "Work hard, play hard." This balancing act of trying to do everything-academic work, employment, clubs, sports, friends-seems to tie in with Tocqueville's observation of the feverish anxiety of Americans to do everything in a limited time.

Lost in such fever are certain depths of experience and a certain virtue of knowledge. Despite good intentions, activities become watered down; every experience becomes an additional component for a resume in the continuous competition of the race for equality. Material goods become the bar of equality against which one is measured.

The poignant implication of this equality race is that the richer one gets, the richer he or she wants to be-a vicious circle of incomplete equality.
I am not saying that one should throw away all material goods and live in the street. I am merely observing a cultural notion that seems to drive many to nervous breakdowns.

Moreover, the advice of another friend of mine, a senior, was to avoid being a "syllabus slut" if I ever wanted to have fun. If I want to do well in school, and have a good time, something had to give.

Here, a successful student is measured not by knowledge gained, but by grades received. This way, one can party to death on the weekends, learn what is necessary to get good marks, and participate in all the clubs possible. At the expense of sounding harsh, that life seems pretty mediocre to me.

This incessant desire to be equal has not necessary made us equal, but it has made us uniform. Those with their priorities straight, abiding by the hierarchy of interests, are marginalized-if they keep up with the balancing act of doing everything yet give utmost priority to academics, they are often ridiculed or criticized.

While we should love democracy, we shouldn't apply it to every aspect of our lives. Let us not be so anxious to give equal proportions of time to every activity. Sometimes, it's good to allow oneself sole focus upon an important goal, and to let everything else come secondarily. Maybe we'd also be more peaceful that way, instead of carrying that anxious attitude around all the time. After all, life isn't going anywhere.