Yup. Plato said that would be the eventual end of a pure democracy, which we are rapidly becoming. After anarchy comes tyranny.
The process comes in stages that are a little more complicated than that. But the end result is eventually pretty much as you describe.
From Edward Gibbons' FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1776-1788):
I. WHY IT DIEDThe above appeared in the editorial section of the now defunct Washington Daily News in 1967, and the writer said in a few years the US will be 200 years old....
1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis for human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes, the spending of public money for free circuses for the populice.
3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting, more violent and more brutal.
4. The building of great armaments when the enemy is withen - the decay of indiviual responsibilty.
5. The decay of religion; faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide the people.
The average age of the world civilizations was 200 years. These nations rose and fell in 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 selfihishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy to dependence
From dependence back to bondage
Carolyn