Democracy

[Reinier]

i just read this and i was like :eek:

"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 treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred 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 to bondage. "

-Alexander Tyler

[David]

very interesting indeed...

[Orange357]

this is why we need to remove PC and feminism.

[breeze]

Hmmm.

[Neil]

It's why we need to remove entitlements.

[Reinier]

what do you mean by entitlements?

[Neil]

Social Security, Medicaid/Medicare, Welfare, Farm subsidies ect.
Other things such as affirmative action, government sponsored unions, tariffs. These are all ways that people vote money from the treasury. The poor have voted themselves money from the rich because the rich are in the minority.

[McBain]

so what happens to the poor people?

[hemants]

In a true democracy where every vote counts equally, what the quotation says is probably true.

However, such democracies do not exist as far as I know.

more on this shortly...

[cyclone]

Who the hell is Alexander Tyler?

And why should we listen to him?

[Mystic Eric]

Originally posted by McBain
so what happens to the poor people?

Well if Neil's idea happened, then the poor people would eventually revolt and lead a revolution.

[Neil]

Originally posted by McBain
so what happens to the poor people?

They would stop being poor.

[Mystic Eric]

Originally posted by Neil


They would stop being poor.

Oh really? How so?

[ElPietro]

Originally posted by Neil
The poor have voted themselves money from the rich because the rich are in the minority.

The rich may be the minority but the influence they have far outweighs the number of votes the poor cast. No matter who the poor vote into office the rich will always corrupt and bend to their will, so the point is moot.

Perhaps in a true democracy the original point would be valid, but I doubt there will ever be a true democracy ever again I don't see anything important to heed from it.

[Orange357]

Neil arnt you a democrat?

[Neil]

Originally posted by Mystic Eric


Oh really? How so?

The same way I did it. Hard work, staying motivated, and NOT MAKING EXCUSES.

[Neil]

Originally posted by Orange357
Neil arnt you a democrat?


lol, no. I don't affiliate myself with any mainstream political party.

[Vynod]

Dont know much 'cos this doesnt interest me very much but I do know theres a lobby agaisnt this ponzi scheme. I dont know where does my money go (trust fund??doubt it). I will live off some others young people's money when I retire.
Its an established fact that the current cash flow pays off the SS and not the "accrued interest" on the reserve fund.

If I get a hike of 20K at my job, my living standard would not change much from what it is today. I will be paying more for my neighours sisters forefathers.

may be I am wrong. But this is little knowledge I have

[Orange357]

Originally posted by Neil


The same way I did it. Hard work, staying motivated, and NOT MAKING EXCUSES.


That would reguire work ethic...which 99% of people will take a handout over

[Mystic Eric]

Originally posted by Neil


The same way I did it. Hard work, staying motivated, and NOT MAKING EXCUSES.

Oh man, this goes back to a debate from months ago. I believe that social programs/medicare etc should be a support net so that people will BE ABLE TO work hard and get out of poverty. Think about it Neil, without them, people that are born into families in poverty will only remain in poverty and worse since the support net is gone.

[Neil]

So where do you draw the line between a support net and individual responsibility?

[Mystic Eric]

Originally posted by Neil
So where do you draw the line between a support net and individual responsibility?

See, that's the problem though, there are always gonna be dirty bastards cheating the system.

However, support nets are needed. Here are some possible senarios:

A dad is supporting two kids and one wife by working his ass off. He is working in a low paying job so they are getting by, but not with a lot of money. Dad gets injured and can't work. No social program? No house, no food, nothing for the family

Kids are born into poverty because their parents are poor and live in a poor area. They have little money and no social programs so they starve and get sick but can't see the doctor.

I think you get my point. As well, people have to be able to have opportunity to work themselves out of poverty. If someone is really poor and can't afford to buy clean clothes and take a shower, who's gonna hire that person?

[hemants]

Without a doubt no single welfare system can both provide for those in genuine need and prevent the scammers from taking advantage of the system.

As an aside, here's a hillarious article about this topic:

http://www.theonion.com/onion3539/homelessness.html