Democracy

[deestafford]

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.  It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury.  From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over lousy fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.  The average of the world's great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years.  These nations have progressed in this sequence:  From bondage to spiritual faith; from 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 dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.

Dee

[sliding_billy]

The question is where we are right now.  in my opinion... "from apathy to dependency."

[Ka Honu]

Gosh, dee, you're smart enough to be an early 19th century Scottish professor.

[RickB]

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.  It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury.  From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over lousy fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.  The average of the world's great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years.  These nations have progressed in this sequence:  From bondage to spiritual faith; from 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 dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.

Dee

Ahhhh the public treasury. Actually there is no such thing. We have been borrowing for so long that people forget there is no bank account. The treasury these days is the tax burden levied on the producers of this nation. As we all know that is a finite resource. When you take into account the record levels of unemployment, medicaid/medicare, food stamps and disability during this administration we are so far in the red we will never make it out. I am afraid your statement has one other thing wrong. Contrary to public opinion we are not a democracy. We a constitutional republic . Goverend by laws. Not popular opinion. This nation started down this slippery slope when we started electing senators by popular vote.

[deestafford]

Turtle, You are so right.  It's funny what one finds when one reads.
.
RickB, You are right also.  A democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for supper.  As you recall, Ben Franklin replied to a lady who asked what type of government he had given her and he replied, "Lady, A Republic....if you can keep it."  We are not a democracy but a republic even though many push for us to be strictly majority rule rather than representation.

I'll back off now because I don't want to turn this in to a political discussion because I'm sure we have folks with differing view points here and I won't want to cause any friction among a great group of friends.

Dee

[hikerman]

Dee, all I can say is.....


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[Tailgating is my game]

Turtle, You are so right.  It's funny what one finds when one reads.
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RickB, You are right also.  A democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for supper.  As you recall, Ben Franklin replied to a lady who asked what type of government he had given her and he replied, "Lady, A Republic....if you can keep it."  We are not a democracy but a republic even though many push for us to be strictly majority rule rather than representation.

I'll back off now because I don't want to turn this in to a political discussion because I'm sure we have folks with differing view points here and I won't want to cause any friction among a great group of friends.

Dee

[size=14ptDee I think most of us want here want to eat our own pork not spend or eat someone else’s share. ][/size]