At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in 1787, a Scottish history professor by the name of Professor Alexander Tyler had this to say about "The Fall of the Athenian Republic" over 2,000 years previous to that date.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship." "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this 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, wrote this about the 2000 election: Population of counties won by Gore 127 million, won by Bush 143 million. Sq.miles of country won by Gore 580,000, won by Bush 2,427,000. States won by Gore 19, by Bush 29. Murder per 100,000 residents in counties won by Gore 13.2 by Bush 2.1 (not a typo).
Professor Olson adds, "The map of the territory Bush won was (mostly) the land owned by the people of this great country. Not the citizens living in cities in tenements owned by the government and living off the government....
Professor Olson thinks the US is now between the apathy and complacency phase of democracy although he believes that 40 percent of the nation's population has already reached the dependency phase.
Again this isn't meant to be a partisan post so calm down guys/gals. I do think that Prof. Olson is fairly close in his thoughts however. I do see an apathetic attitude taking over in the US and obviously we have a great deal of people on welfare or other government programs. I don't see any Dems/Repubs with an answer to ensure the basis of America stays as it is.
