", where people proudly retain their local customs and accents. It's not a place you can just move to and suddenly "belong" (as my California-born wife can attest). You have to put your time in here before you can become a bona fide New Englander. That is something we both love about New England—and it is also one of the many things our elites can't stand about it. During his 1831 visit to America, Alexis de Tocqueville was the most impressed with New England. It was in New England's "little platoons" that de Tocqueville found the American spirit of self-reliance and volunteerism to be the strongest and