About two hundred years ago, while the thirteen colonies were still part of Great Britain, Professor Alexander Tyler addressed himself to the fall of the Athenian Republic. He declared:
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves excessive gratuities from the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the treasury, with the result that democracy collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.”
(Charles R. Swindoll, Come Before Winter)
Will we never learn?
Tags: deficits, fiscal policy, Politics, selfishness, voting, Washington