Posted on 8/30/2004, 4:31:47 AM by Sen Jack S. Fogbound
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 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."
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=2,242,700
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 mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare..."
Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the "complacency and "apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy; with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake in this election year.
APATHY IS THE GREATEST DANGER TO OUR FREEDOM. REGARDLESS OF YOUR POLITICAL BELIEFS AND AFFILIATIONS--VOTE.
The large cities are where the problems are. I suspect the polls are also taken in large cities thus skewing the numbers a bit.
All the social programs we have are nothing but support checks for democrats. There are no government programs for Republicans, because Republicans are upright, moral, self accountable people.
Democrats just blame their failures on everyone else. They need scape goats to hide their shame.
Thank you for the map! It backs up the article very well.
This is EXACTLY what I mean when I say "Arm yourself with ALL the facts. Then enlighten someone else - spread the knowledge."
Here is a link to page I put together full of video and audio links.
The Swiftvets news conference on C-SPAN can be found here.
"Stolen Honor" video clips are at the top.
An interview of Steve Gardner (the gunner that served under Kerry) is next and then all 3 of the Swiftvets.com ads
There are many other links.
If you have a few minutes to spend - check out my 9/11 memorial page and turn up your speakers to hear "Have You Forgotten?"
Disclaimer: I do NOT make any money off of my site. It's just a place for me to play.
When I can I try to help.
Stay Strong,
Fuzzy122
This is great!
My pleasure. I just wish it would have shown Alaska and Hawaii. Big Red up north.
Thank God for the electoral college.
EXACTLY!
How did bush lose Cali?
And NY. They're both mostly red, but always end up Democrat??
There are many republicans there, and FREEPERS!
Because counties don't vote in each state, people do. There are many, many more people in those Gore counties than in the Bush counties.
These maps aren't very helpful - square mailes don't elect presidents, counties don't elect persidents, etc. People vote to send the entire state's electors to vote for a given candidate.
Excellent post.
Bookmarked.
I agree with you. We are talking on generalizations! There are many specific areas that are republican and conservatives. It's the total number within a state that determine who gets the electorial vote. California is a good example. Coastal cites are highly democratic and enough to put it in the democratic column! Rest of the state won't make the difference (mostly mountains, forests, deserts, and farming areas).
Los Angeles and San Francisco. Let's not blame San Diego for something they didn't do.
I live in a blue zone and work in another blue zone. I lower my head in shame.
NYC voted for Gore. Doesn't matter what the rest of the state does, it matters what NYC does. I don't have a graphic of population but there are more people in NYC than in all the rest of our major cities combined (Albany, Buffalo, etc)
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