Saturday, November 08, 2008

how long do we have? apathy

Today, more than ever Simple Home philosophy is important to me - one never knows how long we might have.

This just came in my email box and I think it has value to consider:

How Long Do We 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 ca nnot 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: Democrats: 19 Republicans: 29
Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: 'In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Democrat 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.

Olson believes that if Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

Apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom. WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE.


Note: I appreciate a good dialogue -not for debate purposes but for the hopes that a bridge of truth can be built on understanding the heart of issues.

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9 comments:

Unknown said...

it is amazing to me how many people DO NOT want to hear this message.

Mercedes said...

"If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal's and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years."

I have a lot of issues with this comment. First because I am naturalized American and that doesn't make me any less American than you are or makes me love this country any less than you do. Second because this country was and is made by people from several backgrounds. So I find your comment incredibly dividing and full of intolerance.

Lylah Ledner said...

mercedes ~ i appreciate your courage to leave your comment about this post and i'm proud to be an american with you and to love our country.

Professor Olson's statement that you take issue with isn't the top of my list of concerns - but what is -is the fact that it was never supposed to be the federal goverments job to take care of things it was never intended to do.

It's our job - across this great nation that we both love to be people who care for others within our community. Passivity has created a platform for us to be spoiled and to look for the goverment to be a handout for the general welfare of people.

We look to the government to take care of things that we should be responsible for - like caring for our own families - the young and the old.

We've lost the value in taking responsiblity for ourselves and our families.

What would happen if the federal goverment would sto taking care of poverty and health care and the elderly - then - I think other good people like you and I would step up to the plate.

I've heard it said recently that our US massive government has just become a big feeding trough and for that passivity - I'm afraid.

I hope you come back.

Mercedes said...

Hi Lylah,
I do understand your concern. However, I was surprised to see you endorsing someone who promotes hate by sowing the seeds of fear. He is likening democrats to murderers and illegals to criminals. He is also promoting fear when he says that you can wave good bye to the USA in fewer than five years. And how easy he forgets that Al Gore won the popular vote while Bush won the electoral vote. It's just the other side of the coin you know?
But ultimately I am not interested in debating politics. I go back to my main issue of his dividing comments.

Kirsty said...

With the greatest of respect, I genuinely don't understand how quoting statistics like this is helpful or how this furthers your mission or message?

I am a Democrat.I am in no way complacent or apathetic. I think the campaign that was just run by the Democrats would point to the fact that many more Democrats are the opposite of apathetic.

I am sure too, that if I had the inclination, I could find many statistics that would make it look as if Republicans were the root of all evil. But I don't, because I don't believe that at all. I

Again, I'm not sure how those statistics apply to your message about democracy, bravery or apathy. I also don't think that promoting and pointing out the differences between us as a nation in this partisan manner, is in any way helpful at this juncture. The election is over. Now is the time to join together in peace and solidarity, not to dissect our differences and judge each other. I have followed your blog for a long while and always admired your inclusiveness and message of peace, but I don't see how this post in any way "builds bridges" or promotes peace.

Each to her own,certainly you more then have the right to share your opinion on your own blog. I am just disappointed and saddened that today I am leaving feeling excluded, judged and misunderstood. :(

Youthful One said...

Might I, if I may, point out just a bit of semantics here, in an effort to bring a bit of clarity?

The United States of America is NOT a democracy. It is a republic. (Remember the pledge of allegiance? "And to the REPUBLIC for which it stands...") More often than not, I think this slight distinction is ignored or misunderstood.

The beginning of the post here, I think, is more important than the statistics. I find the the quotes from the historian Alexander Tyler far more important. I've never seen it laid out that way, but it is easy to take his sequence and apply it to any historical civilization to check his theory's accuracy. The alarming part of it to me is how easy it is to lay it against U.S. history and see just how close we are to the end. I agree with Professor Olson in that we are somewhere between complacency and apathy, with many already in dependence. While the issue of illegal aliens may play a part, I don't think it is the root, nor a nod to the real solution. Statistically (no, I'm not taking time to find these statistics) the majority of welfare dependents are not illegal aliens, but apathetic nationals. My guess is that the majority of naturalized citizens, such as Mercedes, are NOT welfare recipients.

Lylah, I really appreciate your boldness in posting this. I also appreciate your diplomatic kindness in respecting the views of each of your guests.

Lylah Ledner said...

Youthfulone ~ to be honest, this comment of the heart makes me just about weep. i feel vindicated. you said it well - wish i could have done that.

my heart is for people and to build bridges - one heart to another - so we can wake up and ultimately look up.

today, i've received yellow roses from you. thank you.

Youthful One said...

Yellow roses are my favorites!
(The ones with the pink tips.)
--'-,--@

May you be continually blessed today.

Anonymous said...

Greetings to all! Thank you, Youthful One for reminding us that we, the U.S., are a Republic! I think the problem here is that as people are trying to "do away with" "One nation under God" is a perfect parallel to Lylah's post! I see that a lot of people now a days are to the apathy to dependence part. I don't like "big government" personally, but I think a lot of people don't like personal responsibility......it's easier to let someone else take care of them.

I see a lot of my generation being of the "instant gratification" kind. It saddens me that people are so caught up in how much they have/want. Seeing the crises' in this country only is a glimpse, I believe, as to what is to come! I hope to see a HUGE revival here before God judges us. If we "get rid of Him" we've got nothing (pledge and or otherwise).

Being married to a naturalized citizen I appreciate even more what this country has to offer. You can be all you can be in this amazing country! He wouldn't have been able to get a student loan is his country of origin. One must have cash to goto school there.

The most important idea that I take from this post, is to make sure you are right with God. Grow closer and close to Him. Regardless of what happens in the future, He is our ultimate provider. Hopefully, we maybe able to be a light to those who don't know Him. IF this country heads downhill, we shall be able to share our light, out Jesus!

Love you, Lylah!!!!