Great Quote about the Nature of Democracies

Received via email

[Hildy]

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.
- Alexander Fraser Tytler Lord Woodhouselee (1748-1813) Scottish judge and historian at Edinburgh University

Kershner's First Law: "When a self-governing people confer upon their government the power to take from some and give to others, the process will not stop until the last bone of the last taxpayer is picked bare.”

[paulycy]

From bondage to spiritual faith; (Pilgrims, Original Colonies, Boston Tea Party)
From spiritual faith to great courage; (Declaration of Independence, Revolutionary war)
From courage to liberty; (The Constitution of the United States, Founding Fathers, Civil War)
From liberty to abundance; (Up through the 1950s)
From abundance to complacency; (The 60s through the 80s)
From complacency to apathy; (I think we are here right now - who seems to care about the Constitution anymore?)
From apathy to dependence; (This is where the new administration will take us)
From dependence back into bondage. (How soon? To whom?)

Does this seem accurate?

[Hildy]

Sounda about right to me.

[Hildy]

Seems to me that if your only argument is “WE’RE DIFFERENT,” we’ve already lost. We are not different. Human nature is ALWAYS the same.

[sunny48]

Good post. It’s sad watching our government ruin this great country.
Here’s some more words of wisdom you might enjoy:

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. -John Adams

‘If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.’ -Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -Winston Churchill

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. - George Bernard Shaw

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. -Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free! -P.J. O’Rourke

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. -Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you! -Pericles (430 B.C.)

No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. -Mark Twain (1866)

Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it. -Unknown

An elephant: A mouse built to government specifications. -Robert Heinlein

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -Winston Churchill

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. -Mark Twain

Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed. -Robert Heinlein

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

There is no distinctly American criminal class ... save Congress. -Mark Twain

What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. -Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

There is no Democratic or Republican way to pick up garbage. - Richard J. Daley

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -Thomas Jefferson

[LonePalm]

"All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth....
could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected?
I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad.
If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.
As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."

-- Abraham Lincoln

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Cross Linking:

Obama unveils 21st Century New Deal ( Infrastructure buildout)

[Tarpon]

The idea of our Republic’s founding was that the representatives would be wise enough to prevent that. They were unsure, but it was the best they could do. We are on the edge.

In case it all goes bad, there is always the second amendment ...