Quote:
Originally Posted by StickyGreen
An interesting quote from Tytler:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy."
- Alexander Tytler
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If you look at Tytler's cycle and the US you could make the argument that we are currently somewhere in between the complacency and apathy sections. We have abundance and there is plenty of selfishness here. Most of us are pretty complacent and you can see the apathy in this last election. You can see the different social classes getting more and more apathetic towards each other. More and more people are already turning to the government for help. We are seeing that shift now with more and more people becoming social liberals and the conservatives/republicans scrambling to re-brand their message in order to stay relevant in the presidential elections. Eventually we will see a collapsed middle class that will then need the government to supply it with healthcare and help them get jobs and education. The thing is we could exist in that mode for decades, if not centuries until people start feeling like they are living in bondage. When that eventually happens it doesn't mean that it is the end of the country, but it could be a sea change in power, maybe a dictator, but to me it would more likely another political party offering a rebirth of the great nation and all her freedoms.