A democracy is always temporary in nature
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A democracy is always temporary in nature
Any of you Democrats/Socialists care to comment.
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 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."
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.
I hope everyone realizes just how much is at stake in this Election Year and that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.
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 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."
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.
I hope everyone realizes just how much is at stake in this Election Year and that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.
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Last edited by Salty; Aug 5, 2004 at 01:00 PM.
Well if we are going to talk about voting demographics maybe we should also be discussing the subsidies that farmers, ranchers, etc... are provided so as to give them their 'middle class' lives. Do you know that we (we as in our taxes) pay midwest framers not to grow crops? Not to mention the disparity in the cost of living. This argument is old and has been used for 'knee jerk' reactions far too much. I don't know too many 'government-owned tenements and living off government welfare' individuals in my area, but I do know that the median price of a home here in San Jose CA is $670k. Sound like welfare recipients to any of you?
Here's a little extra something for you, a breakdown of taxes paid, by state for 2000:
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/TaxFa...15&Topic2id=90
Gee....I wonder where most of that money came from......was it from those poor urban welfare recipients? How can they ever afford such taxes. Most be those darn food stamps.
Poverty threshold for federal is about $10k (single).....lets see....anybody wanna guess which states have the lowest median incomes...and who are closer to the poverty threshold?????
Mr. Olsen's statement of 'tax-paying' citizens is just a crock, and I think it is in very poor judgement for him to make such a statement.
Here's a little extra something for you, a breakdown of taxes paid, by state for 2000:
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/TaxFa...15&Topic2id=90
Gee....I wonder where most of that money came from......was it from those poor urban welfare recipients? How can they ever afford such taxes. Most be those darn food stamps.
Poverty threshold for federal is about $10k (single).....lets see....anybody wanna guess which states have the lowest median incomes...and who are closer to the poverty threshold?????
Mr. Olsen's statement of 'tax-paying' citizens is just a crock, and I think it is in very poor judgement for him to make such a statement.
Last edited by syncopation; Aug 5, 2004 at 02:09 PM.
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A friend of mine emailed that to me awhile back. But Im not sure what to derive from it... so because the murder rate per capita of Gore's areas were higher that means we should vote for Bush? This is a major inference on my part...
Originally Posted by Salty
Ahhhh...I was too busy writing my opus....nice read. Why did you erase your anti-Bush remark??? It didn't make any sense in relation to the initial article.
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Originally Posted by syncopation
Ahhhh...I was too busy writing my opus....nice read. Why did you erase your anti-Bush remark??? It didn't make any sense in relation to the initial article.
I'm so anxious to attack the Anti-Bush crowd that it pops out like Tourettes.
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What's interesting is that swearing is the least common symptom of Tourettes Syndrome.
Mrs Oaf is a teacher & had a student that had TS. He looked like a crazed third base coach when agitated...funny shiznit to watch.
Mrs Oaf is a teacher & had a student that had TS. He looked like a crazed third base coach when agitated...funny shiznit to watch.
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