Plus ça change Dept.

 Tocqueville on the the extraordinary uniformity of opinion he encountered in America. He wrote in Democracy in America (published 1838):

In the United States, the majority takes charge of providing individuals with a host of ready-made opinions, and thus relieves them of the obligation to form for themselves opinions that are their own. I know of no other country where, in general, there reigns less independence of mind and true freedom of discussion than in America.

Vide: practically any American university if you need proof that nothing has changed.

(Have I been having a pleasant read through my copy of Tocqueville this lovely Sunday afternoon?   Much as I'd like to have you think so, the above is actually from a review of a recent biography of Tocqueville in the latest Spectator.  You can find it here.)