 (taken from "Muzzle Blasts" Magazine, September, 2000 - the official publication of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, Friendship , Indiana, USA.) |
"A democracy
cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage." -- Alexander Fraser Tyler (later Lord Alexander Fraser Woodhouslee), in "The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic", published - 1776 |
