Sunday, November 23, 2003
Correction
The following quote:
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 candidate promising
the most from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy
always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a
dictatorship.
The average age of the world's great civilizations
has been two hundred years. These nations have 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 selfishness, from selfishness to complacency
from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency
back to bondage.” -Alexander Tyler
Had been at the top of my blog because I read it and thought it was a great quote. I still think it is, but as with most things, too good to be true. After attempting to verify even the EXISTANCE of this supposed Scottish History Professor who lived about the time of our revolution, I was unable to do so. As far as I can tell, some clever fellow recently came up with this and attributed it to some non-existant old chap to make it sound real. Not a bad deal. At any rate, I'm not going to be one of the many in cyberspace perpetuating this falsity. Just wanted you guys to know how the truth runs.
|
The following quote:
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 candidate promising
the most from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy
always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a
dictatorship.
The average age of the world's great civilizations
has been two hundred years. These nations have 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 selfishness, from selfishness to complacency
from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency
back to bondage.” -Alexander Tyler
Had been at the top of my blog because I read it and thought it was a great quote. I still think it is, but as with most things, too good to be true. After attempting to verify even the EXISTANCE of this supposed Scottish History Professor who lived about the time of our revolution, I was unable to do so. As far as I can tell, some clever fellow recently came up with this and attributed it to some non-existant old chap to make it sound real. Not a bad deal. At any rate, I'm not going to be one of the many in cyberspace perpetuating this falsity. Just wanted you guys to know how the truth runs.
|
Comments:
Post a Comment
