By the way, just the internal evidence makes the origin of this quote suspect. For one thing, it does not read like anything from the 1700s. Then the bit about an average civilization lasting 200 years is not something someone ordinary would even mention in the 1700s, partly because it makes no sense, but mainly because the mania for trying to quantify everything is a modern conceit. This make me suspect that this quote actually came from about the time of the US Bicentennial (1976), and was an attempt to get people to think, “Oh dear! What a coincidence! We are there right now, and.. and.. we’re DOOMED!”
The principle of an electorate voting benefits for themselves has truth, but it is a modern thing from the age of democracies. The idea that societies are going to go through such regular stages in perfect sequence is evolutionary, and smacks of Marxist constructs, or Spenglerian pessimism.
I would bet you a six-pack of fine Nova Scotia Propeller-brand dark beer that this quote is a fake.
And look at the silly sequence! It starts with the society going from bondage to spiritual truth. How likely is that? It is obviously trying to make people think of Biblical OT history, but bondage generally degrades, and is not all that enlightening. (If it is enlightening, then we should be very happy, because that may be the direction in which Obama will take us!)
Actually, our English-American history involves many ups and downs, and our constitutional system (derived largely from the English and the Scottish experience) came as a by-product of internal struggles ending in a standoff between royal authority and powerful, disobedient noblemen. Those in bondage had very little to do with it.
I am wracking my brains, but cannot come up with a case of a true freedom movement starting from the lower classes. Those who are really ground down just want to survive, and they seldom have the time or the wit to lead themselves in a new direction.
The American Revolution was led by relatively wealthy men. There were no true serfs here. The spiritual influence was a result of religious conflict back in Britain, which had simmered and flared over several centuries. The leaders were never those literally in bondage, but rather the churchmen and landowners of the day. One reason Americans wanted and valued liberty is that as Englishmen they were already familiar with the concept, and expected it.