History Repeats Itself

A friend of mine sent this to me earlier today; I don't think any comments or thoughts are really necessary. Could this period, ladies and gentlemen, be the fall of the new Roman Empire?

"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 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.

"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 "

-Alexander Tyler, (1787), Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh

The United States is square in the middle of points 6 and 7; someplace between complacency and apathy. As I've said before WE are the ones who got ourselves into this mess, WE have to be the ones to get ourselves out. The government cannot do that, only people working together for one common goal: to restore the economy and not move further towards step 8 and be dependent on it.