The Downfall of Democracy

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surfinsapo

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I found this on another BBQ forum. It's just human nature these things happen....It shouldn't be political. More about apathy.


Below is taken from The Downfall of Democracy...

Rarely have democracies survived beyond 200 years. Why do democracies fail? Two of the major reasons are: 1) democracies generally progress through an initial period from bondage to spiritual faith escalating to the point where the citizens become totally dependent on the government to where they eventually revert back to bondage, and 2) once the democracy shows signs of prosperity, citizens vote themselves generous bounties from the public treasury. Does this not sound familiar? Is democracy only a temporary and marred refuge until social engineers miraculously discover the ultimate solution?



Democracy, or the form used in the United States and most advanced countries, representative democracy or a republic, seems to be the best method social engineers have concocted to date to afford people an opportunity to have a voice in their government. The world continues to be overrun with dictatorships, socialist governments, a few communist governments, and Islamic theocracies. We can argue the merits of democracy versus the alternatives, but at this point in history, most authorities on the subject recognize that democracy has proven to be the best solution ever tried on the planet. The United States is not the first successful democracy in the world. Over 2,500 years ago, the people of Athens, Greece created a true democratic form of government that lasted for nearly 200 years but was eventually destroyed not by the people but by a military overthrow by a powerful neighbor. On the negative side, they kept slaves in much the same manner as in the days of our fledgling democracy. The most intriguing aspect of the Athenian democracy was that the people voted directly on every issue that affected their lives. Politicians, or so-called representatives of the people, did not exist.



Although the origin of the “Downfall of Democracies” is often attributed to Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor who lived in the 1700s, the origin of the material below may be attributed to Alexander Tytler, or even Arnold Toynbee, or Lord Thomas Macaulay. Whoever can lay claim to the study of democracies that had existed until that time had remarkable conclusions. He had this to say about democracy in general, “A democracy is always temporary in nature: it simple cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority will always vote 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.”



Does this sound familiar? With almost one-third of all Americans feeding at the public trough, its only a matter of time before everyone receives some form of benefit and henceforth, the entire country will crash and burn with most likely a military dictatorship filling the void.



The professor went on to say: “The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:



q From bondage to spiritual faith;

q From spiritual faith to great courage;

q From courage to liberty;

q From liberty to abundance;

q From abundance to complacency;

q From complacency to apathy;

q From apathy to dependence;

q From dependency back into bondage.”




Does this not sound familiar! We’ve gone from being overtaxed slaves of King George of England, to a new republic that accepted any religious faith, to a wonderful new country with a brilliant constitution, to being the richest country in the world, to today over 50% of the voters are apathetic to politics, to where a major portion of Americans are literally demanding government benefits, to eventually losing all of our freedoms (just read some sections of the Patriot Act). Many people now believe that we are now at the “apathy to dependence” phase of the professor’s theory with over 30% of the nation’s population already having reached the “governmental dependency” phase.



Let us not forget that during the 2004 presidential election, the candidates collectively amassed a war chest of over $2 billion. We know that the individuals, carpetbaggers, organizations and corporations don’t make these donations out of the goodness in their hearts. That’s when we, the citizens, get to take it on the chin in the form of government contracts and special legislation/bills that are decreed to reward these people for their excessive contributions.

To ensure our survival, that’s the future for America – eliminate the politicians. Of course I’m advocating a radical concept but it’s time to think outside the box to save the country. With emerging technologies there is realistically no reason why within 10 to 20 years we cannot eliminate the obnoxious power of Congress and place the onus of responsibility back on the people where it belongs, by voting directly on every statewide or nationwide issue. Just watch what happens to taxes and the budget if the people are directly responsible for expenditures. Of course, the professional politicians will fight that prospect with lies and every dirty trick in the book but the American people can prevail.
 
Sounds good but don't forget the guv'ment got mo and bigga guns than whut you got.

bigwheel
 
I know that. I would never start a you know what. I just cut and pasted the article and was noticing the steps that are happening that's all.. I'll be long gone when it makes a full circle. I did my duty and voted. I turned down money from FEMA too.. I am just glad I was born on Nov 6th 1961 and have got to live in America while it was prosperous and free. I feel bad form the small kids coming up right now. Anyway, back to organizing my birthday party.... :shock:
 
Sounds good but what makes anyone think politicians would vote to eliminate their positions?

What makes anyone think that those that manipulate want it to change and have everyone vote on everything?
 
Happy Birthday to you. Hope you have a great one in a long series of many to follow.

bigwheel
 
Thanks yall.. I am at work until 9:00 tonight then the fun begins. People are already arriving from all over Texas to be at the beach bash this weekend. We are going to cook the fish right after we catch um... Yum. ;)
 
Sapo, does the author of that piece ever actually substantiate the argument he makes with actual facts? Or is this yet another of a long line of anti-American drivel based on opinion. I love you and know your heart is good - but that article really disturbed me.

The claim that 50% of voters are apathetic is ridiculous. 62% of the American population voted last Tuesday (and before).

The majority of Americans are demanding government benefits? Does he mean corporate welfare fools who have run their businesses into the ground and expect me to bail them out? Or is this another unsubstantiated claim that poor people are parasites?

By the way, the system that the author is suggesting is Marxist Communism. Direct popular democracy is the Communist ideal.

Sorry to be a drag - but I love this country and our imperfect system.

No offence intended, Brother!
 
Well first I heard that a straight old pure democracy was a commie pinko idear. Thanks for the enlightment. As I recall from the skimpy parts of 5th Grade history which was not time to take a nap...seems like the founders of Our Country. mainly because communications were not very reliable, adopted the Repulican soloution. Now Maja Rushie says straight democracies aint no good because it boils down to mob rule and you can forget it if a preson happen to be a member of the minority co-moonity such as us white male po white trash. We could get our rights trampled on...now if it be any mo betta or worser than we got now..I aint sure. Point is the techonology exists to do it if some popular messianc figger come along and decide to give it a try.

bigwheel
 
monty3777 said:
Sapo, does the author of that piece ever actually substantiate the argument he makes with actual facts?
Nope. We are the only Democracy that has made it this far.

monty3777 said:
The majority of Americans are demanding government benefits?
No, But they are paying for them for other people from Social Security that we will never see in our life time.


monty3777 said:
Does he mean corporate welfare fools who have run their businesses into the ground and expect me to bail them out?
Nope, they were bailed out to stop a big time stock market crash.


monty3777 said:
Or is this another unsubstantiated claim that poor people are parasites?
Parasites don't know better because they were raised on this type of life style.

I remember how good it felt after 911 in America. Everyone came together as a nation and helped the families of the victims. I don't know what the future holds for the USA. I love the imperfect Country we live in too. I hope you are still on this forum in 5 years so we can see what really happened. This part is what I should have only cut and pasted. Do you think this is true? BTW. My family came to Texas in the 1930's because of a natural disaster and went to work in the oil fields without Government help like people are getting now after a hurricane or flood or earth quake. So Monty I don't want to argue but will discuss this with you on the phone anytime. It's a lot easier to talk in person than to type and you won't misunderstand anything that way.





0. From bondage to spiritual faith;

1. From spiritual faith to great courage;

2. From courage to liberty;

3. From liberty to abundance;

4. From abundance to complacency;

5. From complacency to apathy;

6 From apathy to dependence;

7. From dependency back into bondage.”




Monty, παρακαλώ προσωπικό μήνυμα το τηλέφωνό σας num, τζίτζιφα σε με έτσι μπορούμε να μιλήσουμε.
 
Thanks Bruce.. I got to go to school again on my Bday..I really need to be educated. I book marked the main page and will be reading the rest. What about the Patriot Act?. Time to study it now too.. I really needed that reading after the last 12 months of TV ads... Back to bbq.. ;) I know that it isn't good to argue about politics, but by talking about it we can educate each other such as in my case... Now call me Monty so I can chew your ass out!!!!! ;)
 
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