“A democracy is always temporary in nature, it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.  A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.  From that moment on, the majority always votes 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.”
—Alexander Tyler (historian at the University of Edinborough)

     The average age of the world's greatest civilizations, from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations have always 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 complacency
          + from complacency to apathy
          + from apathy to dependence
          + from dependence back to bondage  
                           — source unknown

“The budget should be balanced, the treasury refilled, public debt reduced, the arrogance of officialdom tempered, and assistance to foreign lands curtailed, lest we become bankrupt.”—Roman emperor Cicero, speaking in 63 BCE.

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