thedrifter
06-29-04, 07:59 AM
Democracy and Complacency
At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new
constitution, in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish
history
professor at the University of Edinborough ) 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 that 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:
From Bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law,
St. Paul,
Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the
most recent
Presidential election:
Population of counties won by:
Gore=127 million
Bush=143 million
Square miles of land won by:
Gore= 580,000
Bush=22,427,000
States won by:
Gore=19
Bush=29
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 and living off government
welfare..."
Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the
"complacency and
"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 in
this Election Year and that apathy is the greatest danger to
our
freedom.
God Save America!
--
Jerry Beach
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" (Proverbs 17:22).
Ellie
At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new
constitution, in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish
history
professor at the University of Edinborough ) 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 that 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:
From Bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law,
St. Paul,
Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the
most recent
Presidential election:
Population of counties won by:
Gore=127 million
Bush=143 million
Square miles of land won by:
Gore= 580,000
Bush=22,427,000
States won by:
Gore=19
Bush=29
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 and living off government
welfare..."
Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the
"complacency and
"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 in
this Election Year and that apathy is the greatest danger to
our
freedom.
God Save America!
--
Jerry Beach
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" (Proverbs 17:22).
Ellie