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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 2 by Alexis de Toqueville: equal, or of a man like themselves, upon trust. Not only is
confidence in the superior attainments of certain individuals
weakened amongst democratic nations, as I have elsewhere
remarked, but the general notion of the intellectual superiority
which any man whatsoever may acquire in relation to the rest of
the community is soon overshadowed. As men grow more like each
other, the doctrine of the equality of the intellect gradually
infuses itself into their opinions; and it becomes more difficult
for any innovator to acquire or to exert much influence over the
minds of a people. In such communities sudden intellectual
revolutions will therefore be rare; for, if we read aright the
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