Life and death of a democracy

[Majer]

In 1887 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 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 over 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, 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."
The Obituary follows:

Born 1776, Died 2008

It doesn't hurt to read this several times.

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the last Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Obama: 28 McCain: 22
Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 McCain: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million McCain: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Obama: 13.2 McCain: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory McCain won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country.

Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low income tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached
The "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal's - and they vote - then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

[twyacht]

 what is happening in Greece is a democracy. They have reached terminal dependence from apathy and complacency.

Everyone in Greece can retire at 50 with almost a full pension = to their salary. With free healthcare....and the riots continue with austerity cuts that have to be made at the 11th hour cause there is nothing else. Raise taxes and cut entitlements....Than they riot.

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Goes for the rest of Europe,....unemployment in Europe has always been 15-20%.  Cut some welfare and entitlements here in the U.S, and

it will be coming to cities near you....

However, unlike Europe, we are also an armed society, with a wild hair just wild enough to eventually hit the reset button...

"Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them." (Or they are dumb lazy a** sheeple, un-informed citizens, who don't care as long as American Idol is on). added by tw..
Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833 Supreme Court Justice from 1811 to 1845. Member of the Sons of Liberty.

[crusader rabbit]

Our founders were well aware of the dangers inherent in a true democracy.  That's why they didn't start one.  We have a republic, albeit a democratic republic.  That subtle difference should keep the wastrels in check.  Doesn't seem to be working as well as it was originally intended, but it may slow the bastards down.

In the meantime, keep a goodly supply of ammo on hand.  And don't forget the beans and rice and rice and beans.

[PegLeg45]

Our founders were well aware of the dangers inherent in a true democracy.  That's why they didn't start one.  We have a republic, albeit a democratic republic.  That subtle difference should keep the wastrels in check.  Doesn't seem to be working as well as it was originally intended, but it may slow the bastards down.

In the meantime, keep a goodly supply of ammo on hand.  And don't forget the beans and rice and rice and beans.

And water, friend, plenty o' water........ beans and rice wreak havoc if you have to ingest them dry.   

[Badgersmilk]

And water, friend, plenty o' water........ beans and rice wreak havoc if you have to ingest them dry.   

Saves on toilet paper though!   

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

Here is an interesting view of the Republican and Democratic parties.

Given that the goal of these two organizations  is to continue the existence of the organization and that stereotypically the Republicans support the wealthy and the Democrats support the poor.

Then it is the goal of the Republican party to insure that the wealthy stay wealthy to keep their "base" large.  Adding anyone to the list of wealthy might not  be a goal, but would be seen as a "good thing".

The Democratic party, on the other hand, has the goal of  maintaining the largest population of poor as possible.  Should a poor person become wealthy, they have lost a supporter.  So, the goal of the Democratic party is to keep the poor poor and to increase the number of poor to increase their "base".

So, if you are poor and want to stay poor, or if you are wealthy and want to get poor, support the Democrats.

If you are wealthy and want to stay wealthy, or if you are poor and want to become wealthy, support the Republicans.

(not that I support either one of them.  They both bloat government and reduce freedom.)