"THE ELECTION MAY BE CONSIDERED AS A NATIONAL CRISIS--WHY?--PASSIONS OF THE PEOPLE--CALM WHICH SUCCEEDS THE AGITATION OF THE ELECTION
"The Americans are habitually accustomed to all kinds of elections, and they know by experience the utmost degree of excitement which is compatible with security.
"Nevertheless, the epoch of the election of a President of the United States may be considered as a crisis in the affairs of the nation."-Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 152-3 (emphasis added).
It is. It is like a "crisis." It's like a nervous crisis, like temporary insanity, a psychic break. And then it passes and "calm succeeds." Or like we go on a speed or crack bender on vacation and then "calm succeeds" when we come back to our "real" lives and are off the drug. "Was it not real?" Civil War veterans asked themselves (as they cavorted at reunions!).
"Political parties in the United States are lead to rally round an individual, in order to acquire a more tangible shape in the eyes of the crowd, and the name of the candidate for the Presidency is put forward as the symbol and personification of their theories...
"For a long while before the appointed time is at hand the election becomes the most important and the all-engrossing topic of discussion. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OjrthOPLAKMThe ardour of faction is redoubled; and all the artificial passions which the imagination can create in the bosom of a happy and peaceful land are agitated and brought to light...As the election draws near, the activity of intrigue and the agitation of the population increase; the citizens are divided into hostile camps, each of which assumes the name of its favorite candidate; the whole nation glows with feverish excitement; the election is the daily theme of the public papers, the subject of private conversation, the end of every thought and every action, the sole interest of the present. As soon as the choice is determined, this ardour is dispelled; and as a calmer season returns...who can refrain from astonishment at the causes of the storm." 153-4, emphasis added.
:o
Spooky. It embarrasses me. It's like he's seen me naked.
Telling my whole life with his words
...
I felt all flushed with fever,
Embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters
And read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish
But he kept right on...
"The Americans are habitually accustomed to all kinds of elections, and they know by experience the utmost degree of excitement which is compatible with security.
"Nevertheless, the epoch of the election of a President of the United States may be considered as a crisis in the affairs of the nation."-Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 152-3 (emphasis added).
It is. It is like a "crisis." It's like a nervous crisis, like temporary insanity, a psychic break. And then it passes and "calm succeeds." Or like we go on a speed or crack bender on vacation and then "calm succeeds" when we come back to our "real" lives and are off the drug. "Was it not real?" Civil War veterans asked themselves (as they cavorted at reunions!).
"Political parties in the United States are lead to rally round an individual, in order to acquire a more tangible shape in the eyes of the crowd, and the name of the candidate for the Presidency is put forward as the symbol and personification of their theories...
"For a long while before the appointed time is at hand the election becomes the most important and the all-engrossing topic of discussion. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OjrthOPLAKMThe ardour of faction is redoubled; and all the artificial passions which the imagination can create in the bosom of a happy and peaceful land are agitated and brought to light...As the election draws near, the activity of intrigue and the agitation of the population increase; the citizens are divided into hostile camps, each of which assumes the name of its favorite candidate; the whole nation glows with feverish excitement; the election is the daily theme of the public papers, the subject of private conversation, the end of every thought and every action, the sole interest of the present. As soon as the choice is determined, this ardour is dispelled; and as a calmer season returns...who can refrain from astonishment at the causes of the storm." 153-4, emphasis added.
:o
Spooky. It embarrasses me. It's like he's seen me naked.
Telling my whole life with his words
...
I felt all flushed with fever,
Embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters
And read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish
But he kept right on...
