Arcades057
29-Mar-2006, 12:36 AM
How Long Do We Have? - from Dave Clark
>
> About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution,
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 prior:
>
> "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 votes 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 worlds greatest civilizations from the
> beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200
> years, these nations 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 "
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
> Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul,
Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000
Presidential election:
> 1. Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143
> million;
> 2. Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000;
> 3. States won by: Gore: 19 Bush: 29
> 4. Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1
>
> Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was
mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country.
Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
> government-owned tenements living off government welfare."
>
> Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency
& apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some 40
percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental
dependency" phase.
>
> Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake,
knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.
>
A little political, yeah, but it makes you think.
>
> About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution,
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 prior:
>
> "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 votes 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 worlds greatest civilizations from the
> beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200
> years, these nations 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 "
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
> Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul,
Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000
Presidential election:
> 1. Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143
> million;
> 2. Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000;
> 3. States won by: Gore: 19 Bush: 29
> 4. Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1
>
> Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was
mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country.
Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
> government-owned tenements living off government welfare."
>
> Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency
& apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some 40
percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental
dependency" phase.
>
> Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake,
knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.
>
A little political, yeah, but it makes you think.