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Memoir on Pauperism
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10058 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1986 |
7,993 Words |
| Author
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Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) was a nineteenth-century
writer on American democracy. He was the author of Democracy
in America. His "Memoir on Pauperism," is one of his most
overlooked works. |
When one crosses the various countries of Europe, one is struck by a very extraordinary and apparently inexplicable sight. The countries appearing to be most impoverished are those which in reality account for the fewest indigents, and among the peoples most admired for their opulence, one part of the population is obliged to rely on gifts of the other in order to live.
Cross the English countryside and you will think yourself transported into the Eden of modern civilization--magnificently maintained roads, clean new houses, well-fed cattle roaming rich meadows, strong and healthy farmers, more dazzling wealth than in any country in the world, the most refined and gracious standard of the basic amenities of life to be found anywhere. There is a pervasive concern for well-being and leisure, an impression of universal prosperity which seems part of the very air you breathe. At every step in England there is something to make the tourist's heart leap.
Now look more closely at the villages: examine the parish registers, and you will discover with indescribable astonishment that one-sixth of the inhabitants of this flourishing kingdom live at the expense of public charity. Now, if you turn to Spain or even to Portugal, you will be struck by a very different sight. You will see at every step an ignorant and coarse population; ill-fed, ill-clothed, living in the midst of a half-uncultivated countryside and in miserable dwellings. In Portugal, however, the number of indigents is insignificant. M. de Villeneuve estimates that this kingdom contains one pauper for every twenty-five inhabitants. Previously, the celebrated geographer Balbi gave the figure as one indigent to every ninety-eight inhabitants.
Instead of comparing foreign countries among themselves, contrast the different parts of the same realm with each other, and you will arrive at an analogous result; you will see on the one hand the number of those living in comfort, and, on the other, the number of those who need public funds in order to live, growing proportionately…
I think that it is not impossible to give a reasonable explanation for this phenomenon. The effect that I have just pointed out is due to several general causes which it would take too long to examine thoroughly, but they can at least be indicated….
At this point, I want to examine only a corner of that immense tableau of the feudal centuries. In the twelfth century, what since been called the "third estate"
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