> > 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 world's 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 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 and that apathy is the
> > greatest danger to our
> > freedom.
> >
> >
> > God Bless America
> > Think before you vote!