Deep Politics Forum

About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in

1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of
Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some

2,000 years prior:

"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 worlds 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 "

Dawn Meredith Wrote:"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."

I think current democracy has been greatly modified since TYler penned those words. Today elected politicians loot the treasury on behalf of their friends, business associates, and the wealthy who funded their campaigns in exchange for unlimited largesse once they were in office. Voters no longer count to any great extent. All is charade.

David Guyatt Wrote:I think current democracy has been greatly modified since TYler penned those words. Today elected politicians loot the treasury on behalf of their friends, business associates, and the wealthy who funded their campaigns in exchange for unlimited largesse once they were in office. Voters no longer count to any great extent. All is charade.

What the U.S. Constitution set up was a republic, and the reason was that men like Madison, who helped write the Constitution, feared direct election. That was why they wrote in the electoral college (elector votes were not then automatic) and appointment of Senators. As we have amended the Constitution to move closer to "democracy," accountability has been further removed from reality and substituted by control of media in order to control the masses. The truth is that when people work 8 or more hours a day, take care of their children and all the other things required, they are too tired or have little time for figuring out all the intrigue that occurs in politics. Under representational republic model, however, they would know who looked out for their interests. Then that representative would have competed with others at the next level, and so forth. That helped to preserve accountability. Without that, we are left with total confusion, obfuscation and lies.