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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:
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From Bondage to spiritual faith
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From spiritual faith to great courage;
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From courage to liberty;
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From liberty to abundance;
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From abundance to complacency;
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From complacency to apathy;
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From apathy to dependence;
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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:
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Population of counties won by:
Gore=127 million Bush=143 million
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Square miles of land won by:
Gore=580,000 Bush=2,2427,000
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States won by:
Gore=19 Bush=29
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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
taxpaying 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 U.S. 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.
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