How long do we have?

[trik396]

I recieved this in an email. Sorry if a repost.

The United States is a Republic - but I think you will get the point!


How Long Do We Have?


About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:
"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 worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage ."
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul,
Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000
Presidential election:
Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143 million;
Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000
States won by: Gore: 19 Bush: 29
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2 Bush: 2.1
Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare..."
Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.
It's an interesting concept, but a scary one when you try to figure out how to reverse it (or, as written, that it isn't a reversible progression).

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[Jmanwit]

read this before. Interesting...

[shyi3t]

hmm points to ponder

[Frenchy]

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure our progression.

[sonyman74]

Things that make you say hummmm.

[LKB3rd]

I think we are between 6 and 7.
ETA: I just noticed the author came to the same conclusion when i read the whole thing...

[AZXD]

A more modern perspective.
I find it interesting, what 6 years and a tragic event can can do to an individuals outlook.

Real Threats For U.S. Democracy - Jerry Coffee
Wednesday - June 14, 2006
Complacency and denial go hand in hand. One must be in denial to remain complacent. As our war against Islamo-Fascism captures and holds more and more of our attention and the shortage of alternatives becomes more clear, denial is more difficult. And although a degree of “apathy” is endemic to any free society, it may be lower now than at any time in our recent history.

As far as “From apathy to dependence,” just as 9-11-01 was a wake-up call on “complacency,” Hurricane Katrina provided the wake-up call on “dependence” on government. Americans are far more wary of putting all their survival eggs into the government’s basket. The arrestment of both apathy and dependence is a positive “anti-return-to-bondage” change.

America is different. America is special. And although 20 years is but an historical mote, we’ve already succeeded in extending our allotted 200 years by 10 percent. Extending even further the longevity of the American democracy is not only in our own obvious best interest, but undoubtedly in the best interest of those in the world who either enjoy or are seeking the blessings of liberty.

[XDONBOARD]

Thats too bad!

[XD 9 Loaded Sub-Compact]

Time to get more ammo...

[trik396]

AZXD, I think the author of that has a little too much faith in the "citizens" of this country who are on welfare and the like. They are an ever expanding populous that politicians the likes of Hillary will continue to feed with the good little American workers paychecks. If one thinks they will be less apt to cash that check because of 9-11 or Katrina, then one is..... insane.