Article from 2000; what's it like now?

(Copy of a cut and paste email on her list. Maybe she meant to post it. Sounds good to me. Gadfly)
About the time our original 13 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 prior:

"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." (Add here: the wealthy corporations always donate to the candidates that will cater to the corporate wants and needs; the candidates with the biggest war chests usually win --or steal it like you -know- who did. And what has happened to our fiscal policies since HE was re-elected? And who has benefited the most from government "benefits", like trillions of dollars in tax cuts and contracts." And don't we have a virtual dictatorship now? Gadfly)

"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these 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 Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase. (And what percent has Bush knocked down since 2004 and replaced it with "welfare" to the Corporations ? We are by now deep into the apathy stage, but it's encouraging that people are starting to get mad and raise hell. Keep fanning the flames, Bloggers!!)

Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

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Worried is a little better. At least she can talk a little better. This viral infection - kinda like the flu - has really aggravated her asthma out of control. She's still on O2 and all sorts of breathing treatments and medications.
Crapola, Granny!! So sorry that your husband is sick again. I'm such a hellion that I don't think God hears my prayers but I'll sure offer up lots of positive thoughts for him. the Gadfly.