Ho hum... http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/tyler.asp -----Original Message----- From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Lee Sent: 17 March 2004 16:07 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: OT: The cycle of democracy I pass this along...I have not researched it for accuracy (other fires burning), but it's interesting nonetheless and certainly fits into some current OT discussions. John Lee >The Cycle of Democratic Republics. > > >At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new >constitution, in >the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish history professor at The University >of Edinborough) 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: > >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." > >Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, >Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the most recent Presidential >election: >Population of counties won by: >Gore = 127 million. >Bush = 143 million. >Square miles of land won by: >Gore = 580,000 >Bush = 2,2427,000 >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 encompassed >those citizens living in government-owned tene ments and living off government >welfare..." > >Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the "apathy" and >"complacency" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy; with some 40 percent >of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" >phase. > * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, * * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html * ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ The contents of this email are confidential to the intended recipient and may not be disclosed. 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