Tocqueville--the proto-Orwellian

In the May 17th New Yorker James Wood points out that Alexis deTocqueville's observations of America are very Orwellian and appeal to conservatives and anti-totalitarians alike. He says that modern democracy may be adept at inventing new forms of tyranny. "We meekly allow ourselves to be led in ignorance by a despotic force all the more powerful because it does not resemble one," says Tocqueville, one of the great explainers of America (presaging "1984". Orwell was not really interested in America as Christopher Hitchens points out in "Why Orwell Matters". He was fervently interested in England as he writes in his slim volume: "The English People". He says, "It is worth trying for a moment to put oneself in the position of a foreign observer. With his fresh eyes he would see a great deal that a native observer misses." Orwell was the Tocqueville of England. He speaks warmly of the manners of the English working class who are not always very graceful but are extremely considerate. Reading the two authors gives you a very keen understanding and insight into the two great countries "separated by a common language".