Alexis de Tocqueville knew what he was talking about:
“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 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.”
Last night, Bill O’Reilly knew what he was talking about too:
Our 200 years appear to be up. But the least we can do is keep the concept of individual liberty alive so that a future culture can pick up the torch America has dropped.
On tips from Mark and Mary.