Prepare the Thesis statement of the paper.
Question: Mill and Tocqueville are each concerned with combating the mediocrity and conformity that they find in modern democracies. Which of them has the better strategy for doing so? Why?
Mill
Concerned with despotism of custom.
Combat despotism of custom by: having geniuses (break the mold and save us from democratic tendencies) and enforcing the Harm Principle (Governs all of our actions and prevents us from hurting each other)--- these two work together to protect individuality
Tocqueville
Concerned with democratic despotism.
Combat democratic despotism by: making self-interest properly understood, having political liberties (getting people involved with government), and having associations (being engaged, both civic & political, discussing public life).
I believe that Mill has the better strategy in combating the mediocrity and conformity because his strategy protects individuality, which is important to have in a society because it keeps the society progressing towards the social truth, while Tocqueville is all about creating groups for people to get involved and have equality in a democracy, but this also leads to social pressures and no open exchange of ideas, which prevents the progression of a society.