Democracy & The Public Treasury - Road to Bondage

A friend of mine pulled a yellowed aged clipping from the Reader off his apartment wall this evening and handed it to me when I pointed out the difference between a democracy and a republic.

This letter is riveting in its insight into our current state of complacency. However, the term "democracy" is mis-used here, as the framers built a republic, not a democracy.

It is said that the term "democracy" does not appear in the Constitution, nor the Declaration of Independence, nor any state's own constitutions.

This video "Overview of America - Public Service DVD" does a great job of explaining the differences between a democracy and a republic.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=overview+of+america&sitesearch#

Meanwhile, below is the letter to the editor published in 2006 in the River Cities Reader that is worth reviewing again two years later.

http://rcreader.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11541&Item...

Democracy in America: Past Its Expiration Date

In 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, noticed a continuing pattern in the advance and decline of the world's democracies. He stated then that a democracy would continue to exist until such time that the voters discover that they can literally vote themselves gifts from the public treasury. From the moment that revelation is made, the majority proceeds to vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury. The final result is that every democracy finally collapses due to loose fiscal policy. That collapse is always followed by a dictatorship.

Tyler charted the ages of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history - an average existence of about 200 years. Every single time, these nations progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from great courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, and finally from dependence back to bondage.

Isn't it time Republicans and Democrats alike take pause and examine the current trend to take from the public treasury to satisfy every whim of their constituents?

Fiscal restraint and sound fiscal policy is sorely needed if we, as Americans, wish to continue to enjoy a free, democratic society. Wake up America - our 200 years expired decades ago.

Jim Roegiers

Davenport