"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
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:
1.
From bondage to spiritual faith;
2.
From spiritual faith to great courage;
3.
From courage to liberty;
4.
From liberty to abundance;
5.
From abundance to complacency;
6.
From complacency to apathy;
7.
From apathy to dependence;
8.
From dependence back into bondage "
Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at
the University
of Edinburgh,
comments about the fall of the Athenian
Republic some 2,000 years ago.
