“Among the laws that rule human societies there is one which seems to be more precise and clear than all others: if men are to remain civilized or to become so, the art of associating together must grow and improve in the same ratio in which the equality of conditions is increased.”Alexis de Tocqueville · Despre democrația în America · 1840 · Despre democrația în America, volumul II, partea a II-a, capitolul V
As people grow more equal, they must grow more associated.
Equality individualizes: each person becomes small, weak and dependent, and an isolated individual cannot resist an ever-stronger central power. Voluntary associations — unions, neighborhood groups, clubs, foundations — are the school where citizens learn to act together and counterbalance the state. A community with no civic organization stays helpless before bureaucracy, however equal it may be.
Why it matters An argument for volunteering and civic organizing: democracy survives not only through voting but through association.