About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the Universityof Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the AthenianRepublicsome 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 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:


1. >From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. >From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. >From courage to liberty;
4. >From liberty to abundance;
5. >From abundance to complacency;
6. >From complacency to apathy;
7. >From apathy to dependence;
8. >From dependence back into bondage ."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul,
Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:


1. Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143

million;

2. Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000;
3. States won by: Gore: 19 Bush: 29
4. 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 living off government welfare."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency &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.

Knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

I posted this as I thought it was interesting, But Im sure someone will get thier tail feathers ruffled..

04' # 5, W/leather & JBL omitted.
"Prius, Just ask the person that drives one"
04' Tundra, 18mpg city & 22mpg hwy.
04' Prius, 60mpg city & 53mpg hwy.

Kenstyle NHW20 AERO Kit

You posted this because your a cherry picking dick.

We are on the decline as a super power. At the same time China and India are on the rise. Interesting to compare these facts with what you posted.

2 1/4 in exhaust
Exhaust Pix
Intake and CC Breather

I think this was a little uncalled for..

Yes I thought it was an intresting article that could be thrown in to anythig goes.

LOL I didnt think I would ever get a Rise out of a boob so quickly wskytno..

04' # 5, W/leather & JBL omitted.
"Prius, Just ask the person that drives one"
04' Tundra, 18mpg city & 22mpg hwy.
04' Prius, 60mpg city & 53mpg hwy.

Kenstyle NHW20 AERO Kit

I agree that more welfare bums vote [D] than [R]. And not everything about conservatism is bad. I'm basically a Socialist, but I could vote for John McCain or Bob Ehrlich with a clear conscience.

The trouble with Bush is that he's simply a very, VERY bad president. Other than the wealthiest 1%, I believe he has betrayed everyone else who voted for him.

McCain- yes. absolutely. (but I'm not biased or anything )
Ehrlich- gotta think about that.
Pataki- now there's an option, maybe?

My McCain '08 sticker next to the hybrid badge raises more than a few eyebrows at a stoplight...

Calm down, please. Keep personal jabs out of the forum.

Republicans god-like, Democrates scum. Yes, we've heard it all before. How do we fix it?

Support the Troops - Drive a Hybrid!

The Nation has gone through other highly partisan times before, and will again.

Right now, the thing to win much of the population over is to be a less highly polarized/ing talking head and with less pitching primarily to the respective party bases. A little bit of old-school gentlemanly diplomacy rather than hurling ICBMs at one another. The middle road completely satisfies nobody, but also spurns far fewer. Perhaps the Nation is ready for that phase of political behavior.

It will never be solved, but generally more civil, inclusive discourse goes a long way towards softening the edges in almost any arena. Until someone decides to push the envelope to gain an edge, then others follow, spiralling again. After that becomes the norm, someone dares to be 'different' by being civil, and everyone starts to follow, spiralling that way.

Any time there is a normal mode of operation that has been established for some time, the person who times being different (by luck, usually, and not "too" different) takes the pot. That then looks like a good idea, everyone follows, then that becomes the norm. Repeat cycle.

Harmonic motion is a fascinating thing that describes so much in so many arenas.

Vote them out. Vote out all Republicans and Democrats in office. Elect people who believe in a political philosophy instead of polls and focus groups. Elect people who will see pork for what it is and eliminate programs that do nothing but funnel large sums of taxpayer money into highly localized infrastructure boondoggles.

People keep electing the same corrupt trash into public office and then wonder why government is getting worse.

We're American citizens. We deserve better.