How Long Do We Have?
About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787, 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 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 ."
I believe Mr. Tyler had a good grasp of human nature.
America wasn't founded on socialism, it was founded on individual rights and freedoms. Not those granted by big government.
Some societies like to have a nanny government dumb down everything and take care of them.
Mediocrity is the result.
In a system where everyone has the same opportunities to improve themselves, make more money and achieve a high standard of living no one needs big government to make all their decisions for them.
A government can't destroy wealth and penalize those who achieve the most by oppressive taxing and then redistributing wealth. It won't survive. The people who achieve the most are robbed in order to "help" others who won't work?...
two more quotes, if you will.
"Anything received by someone who didn't work for it, was worked for by someone who didn't receive it"
"Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others.
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