Life Span of the USA

[uofahughes2]

I received this in an email a few days ago and I am sure many of you have already seen it. However I thought that the first part from Alexander Tyler was pretty interesting. I have no idea about the numbers at the bottom, I generally feel that statistics are generated to enhance your personal agenda. Thought I'd throw it out and see what everyone else's opinions happened to be, because you know 60% of the time, it works every time.... (Side note... I have not run it through snopes...because really, who snopes snopes?)

 

HOW LONG DOES THE USA HAVE?

 

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new

constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor

 

at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of

the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

'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 vote 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 world's greatest civilizations from the

beginning of history, has been about 200 years'

'During those 200 years, those 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 Hemline University School of Law, St .

Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the

2000 Presidential election:

 

Number of States won by:

Gore: 19

Bush: 29

 

Square miles of land won by:

Gore: 580,000

Bush: 2,427,000

 

Population of counties won by:

Gore: 127 million

Bush: 143 million

 

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 taxpaying citizens of this

great country.

Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in

government-owned tenements and living off various forms of

government welfare...' Olson believes the United States is now

somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor

Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the

nation's population already having reached the 'governmental

dependency' phase.

 

 

[Jimmer Negamanee]

Your comment about statistics is spot on.

 

I wonder if farm subsidies are considered part of the “government welfare” Professor Olson mentions? If not, I wonder if it would change his statistics? Here’s a link to a Wall Street Journal article on the topic (if it works):

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120657645419967077.html

 

It looks like there’s plenty of blame to go around regardless of whether you’re an R or a D.

 

Thanks for the thought provoking post.

 

[uofahughes2]

Finally got a chance to read that article. Thanks for putting it up. Thats a good question about the farm subsidies. I read the other day that of the 280 billion dollar farm bill, roughly 13% actually goes to farmers. The rest is delegated towards food stamps, welfare and various other programs. Something that I noticed in the article and a lot of articles lately is how they say commodities are at record prices. In my opinion the general public automatically assumes that means they are making record profits as well, however I don't think people realize the cost of inputs has more then doubled and in some cases tripled or more lately. Yes prices are high, however profit margins are the same or smaller. Obviously not the case with every farmer though. I'm also very capable of going on random tangents haha. I really can't get over those 8 steps and how accurate I think they are, especially if you start looking at American history. You can almost see a timeline that associates itself to those degrees. Anyways thanks for the article.

[scoutm]

A friend (never been on this site before) of mine e-mailed this map to me today that shows the results of the 2008 Election. Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota (Statistics above) updated the figures show in the 2000 election and said there were insignificant changes to the makeup of who voted Dem and who voted Rep.

[SilentButDeadly]

Where are all the government-owned tenements in Pima and Coconino counties?

 

Maybe economists, history professors, and politicians haven't learned anything in 231 years since Alexander Tyler made this statement. I'm going to call bull sh%# though, and say that they have; with the caveat that they are still capable of serious and fatal oversight. It should be noted that there were plenty of voices screaming at the top of their lungs that there was a housing bubble, that our politicians are corrupt, and that we are dependent upon foreign oil from dangerous actors, but no one with power listened to them (or they did listen and chose not to act because it was not in their best interest).

 

As for the high murder rate populations leaning toward democratic voting -- is this insinuating that people who live in high crime rate counties are criminals and that is why they vote Democrat? Or might it be that they are more openly exposed to the failure of the system and are seeking out the candidate who they believe will focus on solving their problems?

 

This letter is a gross oversimplification of the problems facing society today. How long does the USA have? As long as Americans believe in it and are willing to keep it going! A better question is: how much long can the USA go under its current unsustainable, live beyond-its-means, debt-ridden lifestyle? The answer is unfolding daily on the news and in the stock market!

 

Tyson

[scoutm]

I don’t believe it’s saying that criminals vote for Democrats (I don’t think most criminals vote at all) nor does it say if you vote Democrat you’re a criminal. But what I do think it illustrates is that a significant percentage of the Democratic vote comes from Metropolitan areas where the Socioeconomic conditions results in higher crime rates - so yes individuals vote for the candidate that does promise to focus on solving “their problems” - high crime rate being an example – high crime? fix it with gun control. Crime and gun control (a major component of the Democrats platform) don’t correlate too well but what gun control does do is offer the illusion of security the illusion that something is being done about crime but does nothing to address the socioeconomic conditions that influence/foster the crime in the first place.

 

So to address the socioeconomic condition found to a greater extent in metropolitan areas more social benefits are offered. So yes again individuals vote for the candidate that does promise to focus on solving “their problems” Unfortunately, too many of these social programs do little to create independent and self sustaining members of society. Too many of these programs unfortunately create the entitlement mind set.

 

Which takes me to your final comment, which I couldn’t agree with more – Fiscal Responsibility! Your rephrased question “How much longer can the USA go under its current unsustainable, live-beyond-it’s-means, debt-ridden lifestyle?” In my estimation not too much longer! This is exactly what Alexander Tyler is saying “every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy” And yes this is what we are watching unfold before our eyes everyday. National Debt at an all time high, a negative savings rate, budget deficits too big to comprehend, the export of our countries wealth to countries that don’t like us, the inability to create new wealth because we can’t utilize our own resources, the first generation in US history that will have a lower standard of living than the generation before, our borders being assaulted on a daily basis with the future promise of amnesty and even greater social benefit expense, billion dollar bailouts, and etc.

 

It doesn’t look very optimistic from where I sit and I don’t believe it’s going to improve unless we see a fundamental change in how our country views personal responsibility and accountability.

 

 

[TAM]

SBD, sounds like you've been drinking the Kool-Aid again. Time to put down the bottle!

 

Scout'em, you're a lot more politically correct than I would have been and you also know a lot more big words than I do, but you are 100% spot on accurate! I especially liked the the very last word - Accountability! America needs more accountability.