The Rise And Fall Of Democracy

Someone sent me a very intriguing quote, and I wanted to pass it along for you to ponder. The quote is generally attributed to Alexander Tytler, though it's not conclusive who actually first said it:

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 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.

This little sequence aptly describes American history, does it not? The question before us now, of course, is where in this cycle is America right now? Are we still in the abundance phase, or have we moved to complacency? Have we left apathy behind already? Is dependence setting in? Are we sliding toward bondage even now?

It's amazing to me that if Tytler is indeed the one who penned this observation, he did it hundreds of years ago. He exactly describes what I've referred to as the 'nanny state' (not my term) numerous times before on this blog - the idea that the government attempts to provide everything to everyone. Unfortunately, the nanny state will exert greater and greater control over its constituents even as it gives away more and more handouts. When the constituency is totally dependent on the nanny state, the state has absolute control. That is how dependence leads back into bondage.

That dependence is the essence of liberalism.

When you think of what made America great, do you think of the government providing handouts for early settlers? Do you think of people stamping their foot and demanding their rights (real or imagined) behind the threat of a lawsuit? Do you think of people spending their time being constantly offended?

Or, do you think of people who stepped out courageously in faith, enduring trials and beating incredible odds to succeed in challenge after challenge? Do you think of the American spirit, which led people to innovate, create, and develop new ways of getting things done? Do you think of normal, every day people rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty to meet their goals?

Liberalism is married to the idea of the nanny state in an attempt to control as many people as possible, making as many dependents as possible. Tytler's sequence is a brilliant way of phrasing the progression. The question for us is whether or not we want liberalism to win the day. No matter where we are in the sequence, I believe we have the choice of how we proceed into the future.

There's my two cents.