Something to think about
“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 treasury. 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 dependence; from dependency back to bondage.”
This quote has been attributed to a number of different historians and authors, among them Alexander Tyler—or Tytler, if you please—Benjamin Disraeli, Arnold Toynbee, Lord Thomas Macaulay, Jack the Ripper, and others.
Regardless of the source, I consider the idea to be correct and profound.
I don’t do this blog as a sop to my vanity, although ego is an inherent aspect of anyone’s blog. Readership here passed 10,165 this past week, and I thank you all for considering my humble point of view as one among many.
I don’t “do” Facebook or Twitter; those are invitations for cyberstalking. I throw things out like pasta, and see what sticks to the walls. (My kitchen is a mess!)
This one time, I would really like to hear from readers, be you Constant Readers or drive-by visitors.
Going by the outline of the sequence in the first paragraph above, where do you believe we are in the progression of the life of democracy in America?
Think of it as an informal poll, and please sound off. All comments get published, and I will be meticulous about monitoring for new ones this time. If you’re shy, post as “Anonymous.” I don’t care about names or sycophancy; I want to get a feel for where others think we might be in the progression from bondage to England back into subservience to some greater sinister power.
My next time up at bat, I’ll say where I think we’re at. For now, however, I would like to hear from you.
This quote has been attributed to a number of different historians and authors, among them Alexander Tyler—or Tytler, if you please—Benjamin Disraeli, Arnold Toynbee, Lord Thomas Macaulay, Jack the Ripper, and others.
Regardless of the source, I consider the idea to be correct and profound.
I don’t do this blog as a sop to my vanity, although ego is an inherent aspect of anyone’s blog. Readership here passed 10,165 this past week, and I thank you all for considering my humble point of view as one among many.
I don’t “do” Facebook or Twitter; those are invitations for cyberstalking. I throw things out like pasta, and see what sticks to the walls. (My kitchen is a mess!)
This one time, I would really like to hear from readers, be you Constant Readers or drive-by visitors.
Going by the outline of the sequence in the first paragraph above, where do you believe we are in the progression of the life of democracy in America?
Think of it as an informal poll, and please sound off. All comments get published, and I will be meticulous about monitoring for new ones this time. If you’re shy, post as “Anonymous.” I don’t care about names or sycophancy; I want to get a feel for where others think we might be in the progression from bondage to England back into subservience to some greater sinister power.
My next time up at bat, I’ll say where I think we’re at. For now, however, I would like to hear from you.
posted by Robert at 8:45 PM
4 Comments:
I do not agree with "whoever". In the first place We are a Republic , not a democracy. Then when we decided to break free from England ,we weren't exactly in bondage. In fact we were a completely new sort of nation.A nation too large for any despot of the time to defeat and hold onto. Americans quickly asserted an independence ,in our thinking , in our Religions,in our ideas of education ,and many were quite willing to die for that independence.
I think there are massive numbers of Americans who still feel that way. This is still the only Country illegal aliens will die to get into. And ,mostly they do not come here to get on the dole, they still come for the American Dream.
Our Politicians have become corrupt and act like hogs grunting over swill. They have to go .
One way or another Americans are going to see to it that the Crooks and Thieves in Washington and in the Statehouses, leave.
Possum, are you ready to be subservient ? Or are you willing to fight to death for what you have worked for?
Maybe the Evil ones will take over The United states for a little while,but they are going to have to kill an awful lot of us to succeed,and they will never be able to rest.
I agree with Barb, except for the slight difference that we are a democratic Republic..."if we can keep it", to quote Benjamin Franklin.
Wow! I was going to make the same distinction. Of course in keeping with the concept, we would be in the "dependency" phase of the continuum.
I believe we are not trapped in the continuum because we have the capacity to break out of the trap that p[opular democracy will set for us...all we need do is insist on returning to the proper form of government: the Republic established by our Constitution!
Well, our nation is already more than 200 years old, so we have beaten the average... so far. We owe a great debt to the wisdom of our Founding Fathers for that.
I have to agree with Barb that the American people were never really in "bondage". Even as British subjects, I would dare say that the colonists thought of themselves as "free men". (Too bad we can't say the same for the slaves.)
The "Americans" were a different breed from the Tories who defended monarchism. Born in the colonies, they did not feel the same loyalty to "king and country". They were self-sufficient (as you might expect in a barely-explored "New World") and fiercely independent.
Their rebellion was not against the bondage of slavery, but against the oppressive burdens of a tax-and-spend government -- albeit a monarchy -- much like what our conservative friends are doing today. We haven't really changed all that much have we?
Putting all that aside however, if the scenario which you quote is generally accurate, then I would have to say that the Tea Parties, the townhall meetings, and the events of 9/12 would suggest that we have not yet reached the stage of apathy. Perhaps we have been guilty of complacency. I can agree with that, but our rebellious streak is showing itself.
(:D) Best regards...
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