Liberals Have ALWAYS Been the Downfall...

[Necore]

INTERESTING ANALYSIS

At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in 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:

THE FALL OF THE ATHENIAN REPUBLIC...

"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 over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."

"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: 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 American Presidential election:

Population of counties won by Gore: 127 M
Bush ................................................143 M

Square miles of land won by Gore: 580,000
Bush............................................. 2,247,000

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 tenements and living off government welfare..."

Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the "apathy" and the "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.

Scary to some... hogwash to others. Decide for yourself.

[ShinyTop]

Actually your conclusions are dead wrong. The Bush presidency is all about going for the dictatorship. The attack on our Bill of Rights and the erosion of the checks and balances can certainly be argued as dictatorial in nature.

See, there is room for ludicrous hyperbole on each side. Or is the above hyperbole..........................................

[ethics]

If those stats are true, then we seriously need to look at the electorate voting system and re-evaluate what Democracy should mean.

[btdude]

oops rofl

[Frodo Lives]

Interesting read, non the less.

[Steve]

I believe the majority of the population of the U.S. falls somewhere between apathy and bondage, actually. The dictatorship is firmly in the making and only needs another twenty or thirty years to become reality.

[Neo]

Actually your conclusions are dead wrong. The Bush presidency is all about going for the dictatorship. The attack on our Bill of Rights and the erosion of the checks and balances can certainly be argued as dictatorial in nature.

See, there is room for ludicrous hyperbole on each side. Or is the above hyperbole..........................................

Shiny, for the sake of discussion lets set aside both the poster's and "Professor" Olson's conclusions. What do you interpret as the significance and or meaning of the statistics quoted?

[Coot]

The dictatorship is firmly in the making and only needs another twenty or thirty years to become reality.Really? (http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/01/10/news/local/news05.txt) Grain of salt suggested as it is the ACLU being quoted, but probably not a big one.

[ShinyTop]

There are deep divisions in this country. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats want to solve the divisions. Both are too busy pandering to their group to think beyond the next election. I also think the SC is going to have to stop Bush's mad rush to diminish the Bill of Rights. I am very fearful it is too late to stop the division from widening to the breaking point.

[ShinyTop]

Beyond what I wrote above I find it ironic that the haves are going to vote Bush back in but unless you are part of the op 5 or 10% economically you are going to lose as big as the have nots. Oh, maybe it will take longer than the next 4 years but there are only so many district and area supervisors for McDonald's and Burger King. Wages for all but top brass are under attack. And the fact of the matter is that the Dems are also being bought by Big Business every time a pocket book opens. The Dems biggest problem with Bush's immigration proposal is that it does not go far enough.

Corporations own our government and will not rest until business determines who can enter the country and who they will work for and what wage group will be out of a job. They are very close to dictating the loss of overtime for many Americans, they have already both exported jobs and imported low cost employees. It does not take soothsayer to see. We are finally beginning a recovery and there jobless rate is just as bad and 300,000 gave up looking for jobs last week, alone.

While pundits and academics are busy trying to figure out what's going on its right in front of our faces. I think the main reason it has not been recognized because nobody wants to admit it. Nobody wants to come out and ask Bush where the fucking jobs are coming from for the millions out of work and giving up. But I don't think it a good idea to have millions out of work. What say you, Matrix?

[limeygit]

Wow, the murder rate is higher in New York City and Los Angeles than in East Bumblefuck, ND? Who'da thunk it...