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.
Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, 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 dependence, from dependence back again to bondage. -- Alexis de Tocqueville
Well, that's one of the guesses for the quote, but I'm more interested in the quote itself than the attribution. I can safely say it wasn't me who said it.
What we have been seeing more and more, is people voting themselves largess from the public treasury whose coffers are filled by the taxes we are forced to pay.
We are seeing candidates from both parties promising their constituents assorted pork from the federal barrel, and the ones who produce for their constituents get returned to office.
The producers are being taxes at greater and greater rates to give stuff to non-producers.
And we wonder why companies are moving their operations out of the U.S.
I think we're in the end days. Better stock up on fresh water, non-perishable food items and ammunition.