Is Democracy Temporary?

You may recall hearing a quote from Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at The University of Edinburgh, about “The Fall of The Athenian Republic” some 2,000 years prior. It was written about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in the year 1787.

Here’s what he had to say: “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 that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes 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, these nations always 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 complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.

More recently, Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning our 2000 Presidential election:

Population of counties won by:
Gore = 127 million
Bush = 143 million

Square miles of land won by:
Gore = 580,000
Bush = 2,427,000

States Won By
Gore = 19
Bush = 29

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 tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore’s territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare...”

Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the “complacency and “apathy” phase of Professor Tyler’s definition of democracy; with some 40 percent of the nation’s population already having reached the “governmental dependency” phase. It comes as no surprise that the team of Kerry/Edwards is appealing to the same electorate. There’s a lot at stake in this Election Year and apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

To Spend Your Days In Castles...

There is not a single day that goes by that I am not thankful for the job I have, running and growing my own business by helping other business owners run and grow their companies. I truly have a dream job.

That being said, it is very rare for me to read about someone who is doing a job that results in a bit of a smile and just a little bit of envy or wonderment.

In a recent issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance a quote caught my eye. “I don’t do very much other than write about, talk about and drink Scotch.” Believe it or not, there is a Scotsman who actually makes his living doing this. His name is Charles MacLean, a 52 year-old native of Scotland who went to law school, but is today the foremost writer and critic of whiskey in the world.

Charles MacLean knows the Latin name for all of the different trees that aging barrels are made out of and can even quote just about every line that has ever been written about whiskey in famous literature the world over.

To MacLean, a whiskey as old as him is still young compared to the century-old tastes that he is used to. A new whiskey drinker might think Glenfiddich goes down a little rough, but MacLean has been known to call Glenfiddich “sort of girly.”

Respected, envied and sought-after top whiskey critic...if that’s not living, then I don’t know what is...