Every central government worships uniformity: uniformity relieves it from inquiry into an infinity of details.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Central governments prefer uniformity to avoid dealing with complex details.
- In plain terms
- Governments like things to be the same everywhere to save effort.
- What can you take from it?
- Uniformity simplifies governance but ignores local detail.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is uniformity worth the loss of detail?
- How do we balance control and nuance?
Another view
Uniformity can also ensure fairness and reduce corruption.
More from Alexis de Tocqueville
Equality is a slogan based on envy. It signifies in the heart of every republican: 'Nobody is going to occupy a place higher than I.'
Permalink to quote #36 Grant me thirty years of equal division of inheritances and a free press, and I will provide you with a republic.
Permalink to quote #38 Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. How is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie is not strengthened in propo…
Permalink to quote #35
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