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A brief history lesson

dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000
edited February 2004 in General Discussion
At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in the year 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.

"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:

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 Presidential election:

Population of counties won by:

Gore=127 million

Bush=143 million

Square miles of land won by:

Gore=580,000

Bush=2,2427,000

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 "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.



How you doin'!wolf_evil_smile_md_wht.gif

Comments

  • dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000
    edited November -1
    Simple and interesting history lesson. Spread the word.

    http://ioseph-locksley.livejournal.com/24267.html
  • punchiepunchie Member Posts: 2,792
    edited November -1
    Scary thoughts indeed.

    AN ARMED SOCIETY IS A POLITE SOCIETY
  • jpwolfjpwolf Member Posts: 9,164
    edited November -1
    Well waddya know? I had it figured right all along.
    To sum it up, liberals live in cities, and we can thank them for the mess. And basically it's us country/rural folks supporting the mess makers. I don't know about you but I'm about fed up with the mess makers.

    ________________________________________________________________________

    "If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace" -Thomas Paine

    If the people have become so apathetic that they will not vote out all the liberal scum (republican and democrat alike), the only solution is Constitutional Convention II the sequel. Let's get it right this time.
  • old06old06 Member Posts: 577 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Its an eye opening lesson the part where Olson ran the stats on Bush vs Gore I just shake my head and wonder what the heck the people in Florida were thinking.

    psalms 16
  • Colt SuperColt Super Member Posts: 31,007
    edited November -1
    "First... we kill all the lawyers.." - Shakespear.

    God Bless America and...
    NEVER Forget WACO
    NEVER, EVER Forget 911
  • ElMuertoMonkeyElMuertoMonkey Member Posts: 12,898
    edited November -1
    Those figures are already in doubt because Gore won the popular vote by 500,000... he didn't lose it by 16 million.

    Gore won 20 states, not 19.
    Bush won 30, not 29.

    Addressing Gore's more violent voter population, let's see the figures:

    Bush won Texas... the state with the highest prisoner population in the United States (DoJ figures from 1998). The number of people under criminal justice control (ie, probation, incarceration, etc.) was 700,000. These figures rate Texas as having the highest proportion of lawbreakers in the United States.

    The most violent cities in the U.S. circa 2000? Here are the top 5 with violent crimes per 100,000 and which candidate they ultimately voted for.

    St Louis, MO (150.2, Bush with 51% of the vote)
    Atlanta, GA (122.4, Bush with 55% of the vote)
    Kansas City, MO (112.5, Bush with 51% of the vote)
    Tampa, FL (111.9, Bush with 50% of the vote)
    Memphis, TN (99.8, Bush with 51% of the vote)

    Bush also laid claim to 59% of the rural vote (as opposed to Gore's 39%), so the notion that Gore's territory laid claim to a higher proportion of welfare recipients is ludicrous.

    In 2000, farm aid subsidies (ie, rural welfare) accounted for $30 billion dollars of the government budget as opposed to the $25 million in Federal Temporary Assistance.

    So, if we look at the hard facts, Bush's territory, not Gore's, represented the criminals and the welfare recipients.

    So much for that presentation.

    NOTE: Information was taken from Bureau of Justice records, CNN exit polls from the 2000 election, and Census Bureau records.
  • Colt SuperColt Super Member Posts: 31,007
    edited November -1
    NOBODY would believe THOSE sources.

    God Bless America and...
    NEVER Forget WACO
    NEVER, EVER Forget 911
  • DancesWithSheepDancesWithSheep Member Posts: 12,938 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I suggest any social scientist who would characterize rural communities as mostly the land owned by tax-paying citizens of this great country and metropolitan areas as territory encompassed by those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare is motivated by other than objective demographic concerns. I am also confident that one could similarly find a liberal social scientist who would characterize rural communities as the most over-subsidized and inefficient use of land area in the history of America and metropolitan areas as territory encompassed by those citizens who own most of the wealth and commerce in this great country. What is the truth of the matter? More to the point, what is the point of the matter? This so-called history lesson is nothing more than the characterization of facts to support an agenda; and because of the nature of the language involved, the very same facts could be used to serve whatever agenda may be required.
  • muggstermuggster Member Posts: 420 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by dheffley
    Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the "apathy" and "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.



    How you doin'!wolf_evil_smile_md_wht.gif


    I do believe we are goin' down the crapper.We have definatly passed our peak.
    I am accused of being a pessimist but in reality I am a realist.I mean,can any of you really see America returning to what it once was?Land of the free,home of the brave.I like to think that we could obtain that again ,but how?Continuing to vote for the lesser of TWO EVILS is not going to cut it.A third party has not even been mentioned I don't think.[:(!]

    Muggster
  • Gordian BladeGordian Blade Member Posts: 1,202 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Muerto, I think if you criticize other people's statistics, you are obligated to provide better ones. Yours are misleading. You are confusing the vote % of the state with the city in question. For example, Bush won 55% of the vote in Georgia, not Atlanta itself. Atlanta went for Gore (Fulton County 58% Gore) but Bush more than made up for it in the rest of the state.

    http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/results/2000_1107/0000100.htm
  • Gibbs505Gibbs505 Member Posts: 3,175
    edited November -1
    Yes real scary, and Canada is going down the same path![:(][}:)]

    Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
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