Sunday, July 18, 2010

Haunting words

Doubtless most of you have read Alexander Tyler's "Life Span of a Republic," written with haunting prescience in 1787. If not, here it is.
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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:

* 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.
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We're clearly in the "apathy" stage, possibly as advanced as the "dependence" stage. Damn, I hate it when history repeats itself.

17 comments:

  1. It ain't over yet, Patrice.

    I'am still hopeful we can turn this country around. I've attended a couple of Tea Parties and I see like-minded people there who are actively seeking a return to the Constitution. Look at all the Tea Party-supported candidates who are on ballots this year. It's an amazing story, and one that isn't going away any time soon.

    The progressives are afraid, that's why they want to make illegals into legals. That's why they want to return the vote to felons. That's why they want to shut down talk radio and the internet. They are also talking about making Puerto Rico a state, precisely because they believe PR can give them enough votes to permanently keep a progressive in the White House. What they aren't able to cope with, it appears, is the change in the Independent voters. Obama had them in 2008, he's lost a good portion of them in 2010.

    Those of us who love our country, our Constitution, and our real history must continue to stand up to the marxists in the government. United We Stand.

    But it's His plan, whichever way things go.

    Anonymous Twit
    USA

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  2. Even if we as a country regain our sanity, the changes the demos and Obama have made would be near impossible to easily undo. They had a plan and with the help of foolhardy voters have executed it up to this point. They are as ambitious as Lucifer and they have much more they intend to shove through. Make some noise everybody. We will not be silenced!

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  3. i think anon.twit is right...the world is still gonna spin no matter what...those of us who can still stand up and fight will, and hopefully things will start to get better in november.

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  4. The main issue is that republics had been small and mono-cultural, racial, etc up to Tyler's life time. Of course Rome had many subject states but it was still basically mono-cultural when it moved from a republic to an empire and it really was never a republic to begin with. Secondary issues are cheap energy and sectionalist differences.

    During early republics the population centers became the problem and the countryside was usually left alone. Not so today with cheap energy. Case in point were the latifundia which remained for some time after the fall of Rome and formed a basis for feudalism.

    Today we have the entitlement populations (IE dependence) centered in the high population areas and a rural population which has never moved out of the spiritual/courage time.

    The great distances of North America caused this split which is not unusual as I pointed out, what is unusual is the quick rise of oil and the transportation it opens up which allows the population centers to more fully force their will on the rural areas.

    This along with the unique racial and cultural differences present in America today means we are looking at an entirely different scenario than Tyler had access to.

    Therefore I would say the US will not fall as a whole if Tyler's theory of collapse held true but would instead break apart into States that represent each of the "levels" he listed.

    The opinions of a population center 1000's of miles away should not force the hands of citizens but it does in todays world. This is a factor no one has really seen before except once and we are in fact closer to the type of circumstances that formed this Nation originally than we are to the corruption of say ancient Athens.

    Even the empires of old knew better (at times) than to treat distant subject kingdoms to the same laws. Rome allowed it's subject states to retain armies, customs and religion. What we are seeing today is complete disdain and contempt for the customs, religion and values of the "subject" states.

    Just my thoughts on it.

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  5. I somehow think you will be alright Ms Twit. Marxists are human beings too you know . . . .

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  6. Mrs. Quedibility, you say, "Marxists are human beings too you know...." Sure they are, but with a sick, twisted mentality.

    Need you be reminded of Stalin, a man who killed upwards of 60 million of his own people? How about Pol Pot in Cambodia? He killed an estimated 7 million people. Some kind of humans, huh? And let's not forget the delightful Mr. Fidel Castro in Cuba who has kept his fellow Cubans in a state of suspended animation economically, socially, and politically since he took over the country. How did he come to power? By killing off his own people and driving out those who had the wherewithall to leave, with the lucky ones making it to the USA alive (many drowned on the way). How about North Korea's personable Kim Jong-il? He's a lovely guy, don't you think? Sure, he let's his people starve to death, but he hasn't missed any meals by the looks of him. Nice guy, I'm sure you approve of him, afterall he's human.

    But if you need more examples of those fine human beings who happen to be Marxists, just let me know. There are plenty more to name.
    I haven't even touched on the Marxists in the Obama Administration and those who suggest policy for Mr. Obama. There's Cass Sunstein, a man who thinks old people should just die and get out of the way. And Van Jones, who resigned when he became too much of a liability for the president, he advocates the violent overthrow of capitalism. He's a happy guy right now, capitalism is being systematically destroyed without a shot being fired. George Soros, you know him -- he tried to ruin the British pound sterling in the 1970s. He's in America now, trying to do the same thing to the US dollar. He's one of your guys, too. Nice man, stole from his own Jewish people while at the Nazi prison camps in order to save his own butt. When interviewed, he said he had no remorse and that's where he learned how to be himself. Nice guy, don't you think? I'm sure you do.

    The trouble with you and Margaret and others like you is you are intellectually dishonest. Even when the facts are presented, even when you are proven wrong time and time again, you refuse to admit it. Instead, you pervert the statements made by others, you manipulate statistics or ignore them altogether if they don't suit your needs, and you constantly bait people instead of DEbate people.

    Yes, a long list of "just human" Marxists that I'm sure you'd be proud to call comrade. Are tyrannical murderers the type of people you really want to defend?

    I feel sorry for you. You have no idea what real freedom is all about. You think you know so much about America, but unless you live here and get to know how free our society is, even under the current tyrant-wannabe known as the Chosen One, you have no real idea what liberty means. You only think you do, and that's what makes you ultimately lose the argument. If you don't know what you're talking about, you can't win the debate. And you obviously don't know what you're talking about. You've proved that over and over.

    Now please bait somebody else, I'm not interested in wasting my time trying to
    reason with an irrational "rationalist."
    See, I live in California where many of my neighbors are foreign-born and have no idea what a republic and freedom and God-given rights mean. They, like you, just don't get it.

    Anonymous Twit
    USA

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  7. At the risk of incurring Ms Twit's further wrath could I just mention that there seem to be cogent arguments for thinking that Jesus was an early exponent of Marxism. She should try googling it. Maybe he was a little naive, but; "sick, twisted, mentality"? That is surely going too far. But how would I know, I'm not a Xtian.

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  8. Don't look now, Mrs. Quedula, but your fried ice cream is melting.

    A. McSp

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  9. What a sick little ' british human' you are! If you were knowledgeable of the bible you would know that Jesus himself denied that he was of any political persuasion.
    Please go grace some UK place with your presence and leave free people alone!
    Lorenzo Poe
    RLTW

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  10. Go ahead and amuse yourself taunting God fearing people Quedula. Your game will turn to torment. You have gone into a place where any sensible person would NEVER go. Your words will echo in your ears. I urge you to change your course,or at least consider it. If you choose to ride out your remaining time as is...then so be it and goodbye.

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  11. @Lorenzo Poe. Please read my comments carefully before jumping in. I said "there seem to be cogent arguments for thinking that Jesus was an early exponent of Marxism." I didn't say that i necessarily agreed with the arguments and you don't make arguments not exist by being rude. The worst thing I said about Jesus was that he was a little naive.

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  12. Ta for the warning A.McSp :)

    Bye,bye Lloyd. Take care, I shall miss you :)

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  13. I have heard bologney like this over and over. You are living comfortable and well. You will scream like a scalded dog when time runs out on you. Your need for blusterbutt only proves the point. Bye Quedla, you were fairly warned.

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  14. Hi again Lloyd. Glad it wasn't goodbye after all. And thanks for your concern. I hope you have a happy, healthy, prosperous life too. (Those are my non-christian, Marxist wishes of course.)

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  15. We are all in the same family quedula. I have nothing but hope in my heart to see you someday on the other side since it is unlikely we would ever meet here.

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  16. Neither Athens nor Rome ever went away, but they lost their status as empires. We as a nation are headed that way. I don't think we are necessarily looking at a real life "Walking Dead" scenario, but it's a real good time to learn to be more self-sufficient.

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