Posted on 11/07/2012 11:08:50 AM PST by RayBob
“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.”
Alexis de Tocqueville
since history is based upon human nature, and human nature doesn’t change, you can predict the end.
*
It’s a great quote—scary and prescient. There is some disagreement as to its author, however.
I think Barry has already beaten us to the punch...
When Clinton was elected, I expected to see a military coup in Washington. It did not happen.
I will be expecting to see one anytime now.
Duck an cover, lock and load.
Possibly true, but not said, at least in these words, by Tocqueville.
I’d really love for somebody to compile a list of “the world’s great civilizations,” with their starting and ending dates showing an average of 200 years.
The Chinese civilization is arguably at present around 3000 years old, the Japanese around 1500.
Rome lasted somewhere between 800 and 2000 years, depending on how you figure it.
yep, looks to be that way. It was wonderful while it lasted. Now me and my kids and my grandkids are in for that last part (dictatorship) and I’ll give you 3 guesses who the dictator is gonna be.
Don’t worry about any more elections—he’ll draft executive orders to cancel them, and Congress won’t do anything about it. Boehner will cry and cry and some of the outspoken ones in the Congress will wail against the administration, but the dems/liberals/communists in the government will watch from the sidelines. And of course, the SC justices will be bought and paid for with 30 pieces of silver, so don’t look to them for rescue either. The folks who voted for him will want him to rule them forever cuz they worship him and faint at his feet.
We are done. Best to get to know Jesus really fast and be ready for His return. That’s the last real great hope this world has.
Also attributed to Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813)... who knows... in any event, the quote has been around since the 1950s and is still very true.
That is exactly what is going on here. We probably reached the tipping point some time ago, but last night was proof we’ve passed it. Like an economist can’t say for sure if a recession is on/off for months after the actual date, we had to be past it to see it.
Quite a shame, really. I have no idea where else to go now that it’s a sure thing this country is going to fail, and there’s nothing any of us can do to stop it.
There will still be elections. Even the USSR, North Korea and Venezuela still have/had elections. They already know the outcome, and win by fraud. We just had the first of many window-dressing elections. And the “Republicans” will be part of the window-dressing; a few token Republicans will be allowed to hold House and Senate seats for a few decades, until they have outlived their usefulness and the sheep are thoroughly domesticated.
I think I recall reading it in “Democracy in America”, but it was tough sledding and I have may have dozed off a time or two...
de Tocqueville was merely reflecting on history than any educated man of his time understood. When Ben Franklin was asked about the new constitution he quipped “We have given you a republic, if you can keep it.” The Founders and the men who wrote the constitution fully understood history and the inherent danger of a democracy. They knew very well what happened to Athens, Rome, Florence, Hanover and Venice. They tried to establish a Republic with checks, balances and insulate government policy from whims and passions. Well it seems after 225 years human nature has caught up with this grand noble experiment. Obama is simply a catastrophic manifestation of American decline. Things will get very ugly.
Being depressed about the outcome, I hit the supermarket for a bottle.
So I say to the cashier, an older gal, “I need a drink after the election..”
She says “I know. It’s depressing”
I’m ready to say something but she BEATS ME TO IT and she kinda whispers “food stamps”. Then she says “You wouldn’t believe the number of twenty year olds that come in using food stamps. Some girl was in there earlier that day and bought THIRTY DOLLARS worth of GUMMY BEARS!! using food stamps. GUMMY BEARS!!
These people are literally at the point where they will burn your place down or kill you if you don’t give them their free stuff.
After all, getting free stuff sure beats the heck out of having a job that ain’t there anyways because it got offshored to China.
America needs a real wake up call and it AIN’T GONNA BE PRETTY!!
Yes, I agree with this. It’s part of why I correctly predicted Obama would win this election. We have crossed the tipping point and are on the decline. The powers that be will probably kick the can for another few years, but make no mistake it - there is likely no turning back till the economy completely implodes. It is near impossible to wean a society from socialism that has voluntarily chosen it. Things literally need to collapse before it is reversed.
Most Americans today don't even seem to understand what virtue is, much less endeavor to be virtuous.
Of course, our culture seems to be directed towards females these days. I guess we are learning what living in a matriarchal society is like.
The Chinese had many rises and falls of dynasties, each Dynasty was a new political nation on the same geography. And from the start of the Han dynasty around 200 BC to the present the average length each lasted is around 200 years, and none lasted 300 years.
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