Wednesday, September 30, 2009

"Something to think about" redux

A while back, I put up a post titled “Something to think about.” (See second previous post below.) What I wanted you think about and comment on was this widely attributed quote:

“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.”

The response was underwhelming. Only four Constant Readers bothered to put in their two cents’ worth. However, those responses were thoughtful and well-reasoned. I was reminded that America is a republic, a nation of laws. (That was a matter of semantics in the context of the quote.) I was also taken to task on the inherent moral goodness of the majority of American people, and my apparent lack of faith in that goodness. Sorry about that; I’ve become a bit more cynical since The Red Herring was elected. However, the traditional $100 bill is back under the paperweight on my desk, pending the outcome of the 2010 elections. Anyone want to go even money with me that the people won’t be turning a lot of these incumbent bastards out to pasture next year?

In “Something to think about” I promised to give my humble opinion as to where we are in the transitional phases from bondage back into bondage. Here is my analysis of what the quote means, with my thoughts in boldface:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government...[This nation] has progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faiththis would be America’s transition from a collection of English colonies into a unified people; the faith of The Founding Fathers is abundantly obvious in everything they wrote and saidfrom spiritual faith to great courageit was the spiritual faith of the colonists that gave them the courage to revolt against England and break away, forming a nation unique in the history of mankindfrom courage to libertythis would cover much of our early history, from defending our sovereignty in the War of 1812, to becoming irrevocably unified after the War Between the States, all the way to liberating millions of people during and following World War IIfrom liberty to abundancefollowing War II, America grew from an isolated “sleeping giant” into the most powerful nation on earth, not through military conquest and oppression of our enemies, but by promoting our principles of liberty and democracyfrom abundance to selfishnessfrom post-War II until the early 1970s, the great abundance of our burgeoning power, coupled with societal changes and disillusionment with the status quo brought us to the “Me Generation” mentality of the disco era through the ‘80s and early ‘90sfrom selfishness to complacencyand who could epitomize pre-9/11 complacency better than the Clintons, with their Hillary Care, midnight basketball, and refusal to deal with the growing terrorist threats? George W. was elected as a kind of caretaker president; no one expected great or dynamic things from him, until the world shifted on its axis nine months after his inaugurationfrom complacency to apathyafter the immediate flashback of great courage and unity following 9/11, we slipped into turmoil, divisiveness, and polarization surpassed only by the upheavals of the Vietnam generation, to the point that everyone grew weary and fell prey to ignorance, apathy, and indifference: “I don’t know, I don’t care, and it doesn’t matter anyway.”from apathy to dependencein our apathy and weariness, the American people were hoodwinked into electing one of our greatest frauds of modern times; a president and congress whose principles—such as they are—are totally antipathetic to the values, faith and courage this country was founded upon. Now we find ourselves becoming totally dependent upon this unresponsive, uncaring government to support us in every aspect our lives, from the cradle to grave and all points in betweenfrom dependency back to bondage.”

We already have a shadow government of “czars”, the G-20 economic cabal, and the United Nations. The G-20 and the UN may not directly dictate our national policies, but our increasing dependence on the opinions of dictators, monarchies, and theocracies is placing us in thrall to the failed social systems of lesser powers.

My bottom line; my answer to the question: we are somewhere in the transition from apathy to dependence. The best example of this is the current health care debate, wherein we’re going to decide whether to turn over another 20% of this nation’s economy to government control. The failed “stimulus” spending and subsequent governmental takeover of the automotive and banking industries is another good example. As a people, we've lost our collective faith—in capitalism, God, and the inherent power of liberty to overcome all evils perpetrated by mankind—and we’ve lost our will to stand up and make the changes needed to halt and reverse our downhill slide into bondage to some dictatorial form of government based on the acquisition and retention of absolute power combined with some bizarre perversion of mob rule.

You don’t have to agree with this; unlike our arrogant, narcissistic leaders, I welcome dissent and differences of opinion. I only wish there was more of it. One has only to look at any given pork-laden congressional budget bill, or the wasteful, fraudulent dissemination of the taxpayers’ “stimulus” money, to realize that we, the people, have indeed learned to vote ourselves money from the public treasury. If anyone honestly believes the tired liberal line that “elimination of waste and fraud in Medicare is going to pay for the new [socialized] health care,” I have only one question, channeling pundits and town hall citizens: “Why hasn’t it been eliminated already?”

God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Think about it...

10 Comments:

Blogger Hawkeye® said...

Hey Possum,

Well you know where I stand. Based on my earlier comment, I am not quite as pessimistic as you are. I don't think we have quite reached the apathetic stage, let alone the dependency stage.

But don't get me wrong. Our nation is not healthy by any means. I think we are only as stable as we are, due to the fact that 60+% of Americans consider themselves "conservative". They have been a 'silent majority' for far too long. They are only now finding their voice in the face of liberal Democrat lunacy.

Only 30+% of Americans consider themselves 'liberal', but that portion of Americans is further down the road to "dependency" than the majority.

Bottom line -- we are not all at the same place at the same time. While some of us are definitely "dependent" on the government, a good majority are still "independent" and "free".

Praise God for that...

September 30, 2009 8:41 PM  
Blogger camojack said...

"-in our apathy and weariness, the American people were hoodwinked into electing one of our greatest frauds of modern times".

One of?! I think our "peerless" leader has the inside track to #1 on the Billboard charts for that category...and I hope you're wrong in your assertion that "the people won’t be turning a lot of these incumbent bastards out to pasture next year". I'm afraid you might not be, though...

October 01, 2009 12:47 AM  
Blogger Beerme said...

Our people are at the mercies of their own ignorance. As long as there are people that will believe anything a charismatic politicians says-as exemplified by the "we'll pay for it in savings gleaned from cleaning up the waste in the current system" statement by the Prez to Congress (You lie!), our country will be ripe for enslavement.

I do believe that Americans are inherently opposed to being enslaved (witness the polls saying a majority of us call ourselves "conservatives") but we are lazy and ignorant and that enables our would-be rulers to fool us into ever further acceptance of enslavement. The worry is that we will eventually accept it and enjoy our captivity so much that we won't leave the cage even if allowed to. I reject this because of our inherent affinity for freedom.

I would feel much better if the people showed a greater appreciation for our Founders and a willingness to learn more about this greatest of social experiments. I am encouraged by the Tea Partiers and the apparent popularity of Glen Beck's attempts to educate the masses, though...

October 01, 2009 8:00 AM  
Blogger Robert said...

Camojack: I could have phrased that remark better. I'm betting the people will throw a lot of these rascals out next year, starting with that despicable "DIE QUICKLY!" Grayson puke in Florida. (Wasn't Dick Grayson Bruce Wayne's gay partner in Gotham City? Rep. Grayson may have changed his first name from "Dick" to "Alan", but he's still a Dick, if you know what I mean.)

Beerme: Somewhere in the rustling serenity of the autumn wind blowing across Scorpion Hill today, I heard The Who singing "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Hawkeye: We're agreed to disagree about some aspects of where we stand, but I'm counting on you as a good, decent person to maintain the spiritual faith and optimism that sometimes flags in my soul. We are still free and independent to a large degree; all we need to do now is transform that faith into great courage once again, and we can stop this madness that's corrupting everything.

October 01, 2009 3:52 PM  
Blogger camojack said...

Yes, I do indeed know what you mean, but...Bruce Wayne's gay partner?!

October 02, 2009 12:24 AM  
Blogger Robert said...

Ah, two guys, one of them a minor and the other one his "guardian", sneaking around a large metropolitan area in pastel underwear, capes, and tights in the middle of the night? Sounds kinky to me!

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course!

October 03, 2009 10:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And how did Superman really come to be called "The Man of Steel?"

October 03, 2009 10:08 AM  
Blogger Robert said...

I said all comments get published these days, but let's not get carried away.

October 03, 2009 10:10 AM  
Blogger Hawkeye® said...

Hey Possum, I will do my very best!

(:D) That's all I can do.

October 03, 2009 10:29 AM  
Blogger camojack said...

Maybe they're "metrosexuals", whatever that is...

October 03, 2009 12:35 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home