You got it right, peace. My source for this (whose link is now broken) said this was published in 1801.
Posted on 10/14/2003 9:54:36 AM PDT by Tandem
I recall a quote to the effect that society is doomed when the majority realizes that they can vote themselves riches from the public coffers. The context is our current situation, where the bottom 50% of taxpayers currently pay only 4% of the taxes. The only thing that may be saving those of us who pay our fair share (or more) is that proportionately fewer of the bottom 50% actually vote! I am looking for who made the statement, when and the specific wording. I plan to use this to stimulate my congress-critters and to club a few libs the next time they whine about taxcuts for "the rich". Any help would be appreciated!
Web pages are full of mis-attributed quotes, so don't rely on them. I wouldn't trust it unless I had the document from which it came in my hands.
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 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 selfishness
from selfishness to complacency
from complacency to apathy
from apathy to dependency
from dependency back again to bondage.--Sir Alex Fraser Tytler (1742-1813) Scottish jurist and historian.
"Throw not your pearls before swine, lest they gobble them up and turn to devour you."
This is one of my favorites. From Alexander Tyler. No, he wasn't writing about the United States. This quote is well over one hundred years old. Tyler was writing about the fall of the Athenian Republic.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have 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 selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."
Although I see a lot of people have credited it to Tytler.
You got it right, peace. My source for this (whose link is now broken) said this was published in 1801.
Mr. Madison... "In framing a system which we wish to last for ages, we shd. not lose sight of the changes which ages will produce.
An increase of population will of necessity increase the proportion of those who will labour under all the hardships of life, & secretly sigh for a more equal distribution of its blessings. These may in time outnumber those who are placed above the feelings of indigence. According to the equal laws of suffrage, the power will slide into the hands of the former.
No agrarian attempts have yet been made in in this Country, but symtoms, of a leveling spirit, as we have understood, have sufficiently appeared in a certain quarters to give notice of the future danger..."
----
Be very careful with this quote. I have seen it variously attributed to "Alexander Tytler," "Alexander Titus" and other similar combinations. ... If it was ever said, I'm not sure it was contemporaneously documented.
Hey this is the Internet. People misspell all the time. It is a hugh and series problem.
But:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse 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, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 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 selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage."
-- Alexander Fraser Tytler (later Lord Alexander Fraser Woodhouslee), in The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic, published 1776.
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