Cycle

Alexander Fraser Tytler once wrote, in 1770:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.

It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury.

From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over lousy fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.

The average of the world's great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years.

These nations have progressed in this sequence:

• From bondage to spiritual faith;
• From faith to great courage;
• From courage to liberty;
• From liberty to abundance;
• From abundance to selfishness;
• From selfishness to complacency;
• From complacency to apathy;
• From apathy to dependency;
• From dependency back again to bondage.

The United States is a democracy, an empire.

It is within the gunsights of any number of countries that would rejoice upon our demise.

• Because we are free, we are a target.
• Because we are loud and obvious about our freedoms, we are a target.
• Because we accept secularism as well as various religions, we are a target.
• Because we are prosperous, we are a target.
• Because we possess logic, common sense, rationality, proportion, we are a target.
• Because we have a system that works, we are a target.
• Because we have saved numerous countries and not demanded their lands we are a target.
• Because people mistake sense for weakness, we are a target.
• Because we are successful we are a target.
• Because our society readily makes Americans of most of its inhabitants, we are a target.
• Because some societies are jealous of our success, we are a target.
• Because we are frequently Larger Than Life we are a target.

All things considered, we are a Miraculous Presence.

But I would ask: where are we now, on this continuum? And can we pull back from the end of this continuum, and avoid Rome?

A portion of the world seeks to destroy us, that much is clear, no matter where we are on the scale.

Destroy you.

Destroy me.

BZ