"...for if a democratic republic, similar to that of the United States, were ever founded in a country where the power of one man had previously established a centralized administration..."
"...and sunk it deep into the habits and the laws of the people..."
"...I do not hesitate to assert that in such a republic a more insufferable despotism would prevail than in any of the absolute monarchies of Europe; or, indeed, any that could be found on this side of Asia." Alexis de Tocqueville
We didn't get in this mess overnight. It was a long and slippery slope, from "Gee, maybe we shouldn't let Grandma starve" to
armed Federal "Inspectors" raiding garage sales but we're on that slope and we're still sliding. We're not going to fix it overnight, either.
3 comments:
It's as Alexander Tyler wrote long ago:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury.
"From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits 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 greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this 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 apathy;
from apathy to dependence;
from dependency back again into bondage."
Deborah Leigh said...First they came for the lemonade stands, then the bake sales, and now the garage/yard sales. The loss of these are far greater than the glass of cold lemonade from a child' hand, a cupcake for some usually noble cause, or a useful object no longer needed by the seller. The loss is liberty. The freedom to do with what you have how you determine to.
There is a movement to have lemonade stands across the country on June 13th. It is gaining national support. I most surely support such an endeavor.
No, we won't fix it overnight. But in November, we can make a damn good start.
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