Among democratic peoples new families continually rise from nothing while others fall, and nobody's position is quite stable. The woof of time is ever being broken and the track of past generations lost. Those who have gone before are easily forgotten, and no one gives a thought to those who will follow. All a man's interests are limited to those near himself. Aristocracy links everybody, from peasant to king, in one long chain.
Democracy breaks the chain and frees each link.
Thus, not only does democracy make men forget their ancestors, but also clouds their view of their descendants and isolates them from their contemporaries. Each man is forever thrown back on himself alone, and there is danger that he may be shut up in the solitude of his own heart. He then follows up on the idea mentioned above that individualism is more the result of misunderstanding one's true interests than a basic perversity of human nature. If it does not lead the will directly to virtue, it establishes habits which unconsciously turn it that way. How this connects with capitalism is something I will offer a few comments on in a post which will follow this one.