Democracy
Someone emailed me this today. I don't know that it's true of us, but it is thought-provoking. Hopefully (and I do mean that in the true sense of having hope), our system of checks and balances will keep us afloat (if we don't let anyone dismantle it). :
How Long Do We Have?
About the time our original thirteen states adopted
their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a
Scottish history professor at the University of
Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the
Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier: "A
democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply
cannot exist as a permanent form of government."
"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time
that voters discover they can vote themselves generous
gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on,
the majority always vote for the candidates who
promise the most benefits from the public treasury,
with the result that every democracy will finally
collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always
followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest
civilizations, from the beginning of history, has been
about 200 years. During those 200 years, those
nations have always progressed through the following
sequence:
1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"
How Long Do We Have?
About the time our original thirteen states adopted
their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a
Scottish history professor at the University of
Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the
Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier: "A
democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply
cannot exist as a permanent form of government."
"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time
that voters discover they can vote themselves generous
gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on,
the majority always vote for the candidates who
promise the most benefits from the public treasury,
with the result that every democracy will finally
collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always
followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest
civilizations, from the beginning of history, has been
about 200 years. During those 200 years, those
nations have always progressed through the following
sequence:
1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"