Chasing the Red, White, and Blue: A Journey in Tocqueville's Footsteps Through Contemporary America

Having lived in the US for the last couple of years, and originally from South Africa, I couldnt put into words exactly what I felt was right/wrong with the US. David Cohen expresses it perfectly, and gives a great insight into the mindset of todays Americans. In order to live and adapt in America you have to understand America, and in order to understand America, you need to read this book!

My alternate review title was "Disparity, but not Despair-ity" but I settled on what you see above. One thing this book says loud and clear is that the once direct relationship between hard work and the American Dream has never been more fragile. Things have changed, and are ever changing!Cohen's book shows us that for some, the American Dream is alive and well... but for a larger percentage of Americans, the dream has become a nightmare. This work is a real eye-opening 20/20-like expose, and one that reads like a freight train blasting through myth. "Chasing" in the title is an accurate description of the pace.The premise is brilliant and engaging. Cohen, an award winning British/South African journalist comes to America to retrace the 170-year-old steps of Alexis De Tocqueville, writer of the famous treatise "Democracy In America". The itinerary includes New York City; Flint, Michigan; The Ohio River Valley; The Mississippi Delta; The Deep South; and Washington, D.C. Cohen diverts from Tocqueville's original journey only by adding California, the new frontier and command center of the information age.What struck Tocqueville most, back in 1831, was the "equality of conditions" among the Americans then. This, and "self-interest, properly understood" were Tocqueville's greatest impressions and formed the basis of his praise of the American way of life.Cohen is an expert on Tocqueville and is well-versed in the great man's journals. As he makes his way across America he interviews a diverse sampling (in my opinion, a well sought-out cross-section of the have's and the have-not's) and compares these findings against the fulcrum of equality Tocqueville described.What does Cohen find? An ever-widening gap between the have's and the have-nots!Things have changed. He finds that Tocqueville's work is full of unqualified conclusions and summary statements that do not possibly reflect the general populace of America in the last half century. Beyond being out dated and inaccurate when applied to modern times, it's questionable whether it was even all that accurate at the time it was originally written. By marginalizing his findings on blacks and Indians, Tocqueville trivialized them. By failing to qualify his conclusions he helped to perpetuate an idealized view of America that he never saw.Tocqueville's findings are further skewed (says Cohen) because the people he interviewed were not a balanced group. Not an unbiased cross-section of "Americans" at the time. They were always successful, professional elite (privileged aristocrats of the time) always male, and always white. Cohen wants to avoid a similar mistake this time around... and I applaud his riding of buses, to find the pulse of the common man/woman. Every indication seems to point toward a widening gap between the rich and the poor in America, and the author tells the story in an engaging, (humorous where appropriate) way. There is a section where he sends fictitious e-mails to Tocqueville and I j

Could Tocqueville have forseen what America would be like a hundred and fifty odd years down the line? In a well thought out and painstaking endeavour, David Cohen has literally followed the trail taken by Tocqueville, almost lived the part, and has documented his findings in an exceedingly engaging, objective, and lively fashion. Filled with interviews with local people, perceptive insights into the American way of life as it is today, compared to what Tocqueville found and documented, this book is a delight to read. For those of us, especially non Americans, who have not read Tocqueville himself, this will be an interesting insightful introduction to aspects of early American life together with a factual and rather wry view as to where the capitalist and democratic way has in fact led. And it is not always very pretty. Do the fine developments of the past century and a half outweigh many of the rather dreadful aspects of American life David Cohen has found and so perceptively documented ? Is this what the American dream envisaged? Or is this the decline of the west that we are experiencing?? Well, this is distinctly required reading, so read all about it.

David Cohen's "Chasing the Red White and Blue" gives us both an intimate and an amusing look into the forgotten segment of America's underclass and those for whom they toil, as he retraces De Toqueville's steps through America; seeking to know whether De Toqueville's prophecies about the nature of democracy, American style, have fulfilled their promise of equality and contentment for all. Using De T's diaries instead of his written masterpiece (Democracy in America), is a great idea, as few of us have access to those writings. This is a relevant book for Americans right now, post 9/11, as we search for meaning and priorities in our lives. Cohen invites us into his world and as a reader I often felt as if I was right there with him in his travels. While the poor of America are not necessarily in many minds, we have a responsibility, given the shattering events of 9/11, to try to understand the seeds of discontent, even here on our own doorsteps. This is a thoroughly researched well written book, very professional but easy to read and definitely thought provoking.

This book will open your eyes to the true state of the nation. The author sets off (literally) on a journey through the US to retrace the steps of the 19th century French philosopher, Alex de Tocqueville, who journeyed here in the 1800's. He contrasts the present state of affairs with de Tocqueville's then-observations and forecasts for the future of the nation. Heady stuff! However, you don't need to be a student of economics (which I am not) to enjoy this book. It is easy to read, and the author manages to convey factual information in an almost story-like way (there are some great stories about Manhattan real estate, dotcom millionaires, religious fanatics and relentless gamblers!). I learned a few lessons about some of the religious, economic and political aspects of life in the US -warts and all - and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.