The Fall of Democracy
While reading my book “The Handwriting on the Wall” by David Jeremiah, I had to stop to read this quote twice.
When the thirteen colonies were still a part of England, Professor Alexander Tyler wrote about the fall of the Athenian republic over two thousand years previous to that time:
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy 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.
If this is true, where do you think we are?
Well, we’re certainly not really in “bondage” anymore, any more than we’re a nation recognized for our spiritual faith. Our days of great courage have certainly passed, our liberty is most definitely under extreme question. We have gone through abundance, and one could argue we still have an abundance of everything – both of the good and bad. I would say we’ve been selfish all along, right from the start of our time here on this pitiful little planet we call home.
My guess is that right now we’re sitting right in the middle between complacency and apathy. We’re almost to the dependency stage depending on how you look at it — but to a point, that dependence is partly because of our apathy. Think of our acceptance of the absurd spike in gasoline prices – we could easily have developed cars that don’t depend on such crude energy sources as oil (which necessitates securing oil reserves anywhere we can find them, even if that means going to war for them), but we have yet to do this efficiently and on a broad enough scale to make a difference.
I probably could continue, but I think that’s enough for now. I might have to write up an article of my own about this one!
I will have to ponder this one. I do think this country is on the decline but that goes for the entire West. I think the quote above is over simplified as to the reason democracies do not survive (for it depends on the foundation that would uphold it in principle and if that gives way for other foundations). This is a very complex and interesting issue and I am trying to understand it better myself.
I need to take back that comment. After thinking about it I think democracy has an inherent flaw. I do see a current conflict in our culutre (culture war) in discussing democracy and underlying moral laws to govern men’s choices. Where there is no absolute, democracy is simply a majority rule and that majority could be based on a whole other foundation that I deeply feel an alien to. Who decides which majority decides? Also, think of the Supreme court decisions that sanctions the death of the innocences but everywhere people cry out against war and death? It’s insane. The history of the U.S started out strong as it was loosely based on biblical absolutes but it has flaws as well at the beginning and has not been able to build on that more consistently. Any kingdom that doesn’t own Christ’s crown rights will fall into moral decay. Some are granted more light than others and enjoy greater freedoms but they are still all flawed. My two cents.. 🙂
I’m thinking it will always be voting for the person promising the most from the public troughs. Forever selfish. After that they(us) are helpless to whatever comes.