The Culture of Equality

America, writes De Tocqueville, is more equal than Europe, with less inherited wealth.

That was probably true in 1830 when he visited the US. Now the relationship is reversed. Many European countries, particularly in Scandinavia, have superior systems for supporting the sick, retired, and unemployed.

What De Tocqueville has discovered that is still relevant is that inherited wealth sounds inherently wrong to many Westerners, and this notion took flight in America in the 1800s. The idea has been exported back to Europe. A Swedish St. Olaf student, when I was telling him about the holes in the justification for the American revolution, said:

"Don't you think the founding fathers were geniuses?" This is my evidence that the desire for equality, which Europeans have come closer than us to achieving, ultimately originated in America.