Quotations - Lessons From the Past

A very wise and insightful philosopher once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The philosopher was George Santayana, and the article was From Reason in Common Sense. In my humble opinion, this is one of the most universal quotes of all time. It spans almost every topic of discussion, and can be sighted as the very reason for many of today’s political and social issues. Yet, even as many American’s read this ever important quote, the impact of its meaning slips past them. This is because in our modern society, remembering history isn’t our downfall. Instead, it is the complete lack of ever learning it.

But I will not bore you with a history lesson. Quite frankly, I am far from obtaining enough knowledge about history to give a lesson to anyone! Instead, I would like to pass on a few of my favorite quotes. Of course I will also be passing on my analysis of how these historic quotes relate to our current social and political environment. And while my analysis might be questionable to some, the validity of the quotes certainly should not be.

This first quote is by a Scottish born lawyer/writer who lived in the 1700’s. I also consider him to be a great philosopher, but men from that day were far to humble to label themselves as such.

"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." - Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747–1813).

First I will note that by ‘largesse’, Mr. Tytler was referring to favours and money. That being said, how unbelievably accurate this quote turned out to be, particularly here in the United States. Our country has sadly evolved from being a great Constitutional Republic into a Democracy. That I suppose was the first step in making this quote so notable today. Next, it couldn’t have been predicted better that people would ‘sell’ their vote, so to speak, as long as it gained them some temporary prosperity that they didn’t have to work for. And, as Mr. Tytler predicted, that began a long tradition of voting for candidates that promise everybody something for nothing, regardless of the negative fiscal impacts that were certain to come as a result. As for the last portion, I could make a very compelling argument that with the recent acquisition of extraordinary power by the Executive branch of government, with virtually no oversight by the Legislative or Judicial branches, we are already living under a fledgling dictatorship.

I believe this next quote needs no explanation, particularly if the reader has a paycheck stub handy.

"When a self-governing people confer upon their government the power to take from some and give to others, the process will not stop until the last bone of the last taxpayer is picked bare." - Howard E. Kershner

Mr. kershner lived long enough to see just how insightful this statement turned out to be. He died in 1990 at the age of 98.

I now want to go back to Mr. Tytler. I debated using two quotes from the same person, but Alexander Tytler had such a gift for predicting the cycles and outcomes of political structures that I decided to include another of his famous quotes. It is what he referred to as the Self-Destructive Cycle of Democracy

"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 into bondage."
- Alexander Tytler

When you stop and break this cycle down, it can strike fear into the heart of every politically active American. The cycle has come to pass in America exactly as it was written.

The first part of the cycle, “from bondage into spiritual faith” happened when the first colonist came to this Country and began to enjoy the freedom of living an ocean away from the British crown. This allowed them to freely practice whatever religion they wished without persecution.

Second, the colonist became fond of their new found freedoms and developed the courage to stand up against the oppressive British Crown, which resulted in the personal liberties detailed in the Constitution of the United States.

Once America won its independence, the country quickly became the hub for anyone who wanted to pursue the riches of precious metals, oil, industrialization, farming, etc. etc. It took many years, but this led to periods of great abundance. For example, the roaring 20’s, and the 1950’s when the country was full of returning heroes from WWII and jobs were plentiful. In fact, we have just come out of a cycle of great abundance like no other country in the world has ever experienced. The last several decades have been marked by American’s owning bigger homes, bigger cars, nicer cloths, more expensive jewelry, and the list goes on and on. In fact, abundance might not even be the correct word for it, as it doesn’t convey the pure arrogance that is associated with our society of consumers.

Next came the apathy, but lets be honest, this part of the cycle has been brewing for some time now. It began after the Great Depression when prosperity returned thanks in part to government freebies passed out by Roosevelt’s “New Deal” legislation (this would be a good time to go back and read Mr. Tytler’s first quote).

“Dependence” emerged as Apathy’s evil twin. I say this because I feel that dependence came gradually with the emergence of our apathetic society. As American’s became more and more dependent on government to take care of them from cradle to grave, they also became more and more apathetic towards the loss of essential liberties that came as a result. So what part of the cycle does that leave? I will let each individual reader decide for themselves how close we are to that final outcome, as well as how long it will be before we gain back our courage and start the cycle over again.

These next quotes are from two of the greatest men to ever grace America with their genius and patriotism.

"Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad."
-- James Madison, writing to Thomas Jefferson, May 13, 1798

This sinister prediction has come to define the years since our country was attacked on 9/11. Since that time our government has consistently passed one piece of legislation after another that strips American’s of the liberties and freedoms. Liberties that were once protected by our Constitution. In addition, they were stripped from us under the guise of protecting American’s from terrorism. James Madison had the amazing clairvoyance to predict exactly how the very document he helped author would be undermined and taken away from the citizens of this country. To even think of the dishonor shown towards this great man by today’s greedy and corrupt members of government turns my stomach. I don’t believe James Madison could have predicted the treachery and traitorous acts of late by our governing body and its constituents.

Finally, a quote each and every American should read time and time again until it is burned permanently into their psyche.

"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." - Thomas Jefferson

Read this, and remember this quote next time you hear a political candidate or fellow citizen refer to our country as a “Democracy”. The founders of this country distained the thought of a Democratic form of government, and the word Democracy is not used a single time in our Constitution or Bill or Rights. However, this term has been used time and time again by elected officials, and those who are campaigning to be elected. And I ask myself, how can any American vote for a person who doesn’t even know that our country is a Republic, not a Democracy?

In closing, let me say that I love, unequivocally, the America created by our founding fathers. But let me also say that I distain, without remorse, the America we live in today. And while some will view my distain as traitorous, my fellow patriots out there know that there could be no greater honor bestowed onto our Founding Fathers than to reject what has become of our once great Republic.

Stan LaFaver