Phil Alden Robinson's 1989 "Field of Dreams"

We begin our journey through Tocqueville’s America with a movie that, at first glance, probably doesn’t seem to have much to do with democracy at all, but I think Tocqueville would have found quite a lot to recognize in 1989’s "Field of Dreams."

One of the things that most impressed Tocqueville about America was the way Americans came together voluntarily. They formed associations, created organizations, built communities, and worked together toward common purposes—not because government told them to, but simply because they believed something was worth doing.

And that is certainly true of Ray Kinsella.

He hears a voice telling him, “If you build it, he will come.”

And so he does.

He doesn’t ask permission. He doesn’t wait for someone else to do it. He has an idea, takes an enormous risk, and builds something that ultimately brings people together.

The practical voices around him tell him that the field makes no economic sense—that he should conform, return the land to farming, and abandon this seemingly foolish idea. Tocqueville understood that one of the challenges of democracy was maintaining the independence to think and act for yourself, even when society is telling you that you are wrong.

But Tocqueville worried about the other side of American individualism. He feared that people could become so focused on their own private lives that they would become separated from their communities—and even from the generations that came before them. He warned that individualism could eventually:

“confine him entirely within the solitude of his own heart.”

"Field of Dreams" takes us in the opposite direction.

Ray’s relationship with his father gives us another Tocqueville theme to watch for. Ray had defined part of his own independence by rejecting his father’s world, and the two were estranged when his father died. Tocqueville worried that democratic individualism could weaken the bonds connecting one generation to the next.

Ray’s journey reminds us that becoming independent does not mean we have to become disconnected from those who came before us. Through his creation, Ray becomes connected—to his family, to his father, to his community, to strangers, and even to generations that came before him.

And that brings us to baseball.

Tocqueville never saw the game of baseball as we know it today. But while observing American democracy, he wrote something fascinating about American children. He noticed that even in their games, they were accustomed to “submit to rules which they have themselves established.”

Think about that as you watch the film.

Baseball is, in its own small way, a self-governing society.

Everyone agrees to play by a common set of rules. Individual achievement is celebrated, but no individual can win without a team. There is authority—the umpire—but even the umpire is governed by the rules.
And perhaps most importantly for "Field of Dreams," baseball connects generations.

Parents teach it to their children. Stories are handed down. We remember players we never saw play. And sometimes, simply having a catch can mean far more than having a catch.

So, as you watch "Field of Dreams," look for some of the things Tocqueville found when he traveled across America nearly two centuries ago:

Individual initiative. Community. Voluntary association. Shared rules. Connections between generations. And the ability of ordinary people to create something larger than themselves.

And while Tocqueville never saw a baseball game—or Iowa as we know it today—I have a feeling he would have understood exactly what was happening in that corn field.