Alexander Fraser Tytler Quote

Alexander Fraser Tytler
An Observation on Democracy
The most interesting observation is how closely the US has followed this scenario.

\"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 Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world\'s greatest civilizations has been 200 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 into Bondage\"

--- most commonly attributed to
\"The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic\"
by Alexander Fraser Tytler Lord Woodhouselee (1748-1813)
(Scottish judge and historian at Edinburgh University)