The cycle of Democracy and bondage has recurred over and over throughout history. It goes like this:
1. From bondage (Rule of men) to spiritual faith
2. From spiritual faith to great courage
3. From courage to liberty (Rule of law)
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 (Rule of men)
This cycle continues for only one reason…ignorance of history. In his book entitled, The Life of Reason,” George Santayana concluded, “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Take another look at the eight steps of the cycle above. Where do you think Europe is today? Where do you think the U.S. is today? I contend Europe is in the process of moving from step 7 to step 8. The U.S. is about halfway through step 7.
Our founders knew history, and they understood this cycle. They knew the natural course for governments was to grow bigger and more powerful. They also knew the more powerful the government, the weaker its people. They wrote a constitution that prevented the unbridled growth of the national government. As James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper #45, “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined and will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce.”
This limited government model withstood attacks from the “central planners” for most of our history. The original intent and true meaning of the constitution was upheld by the courts when it was challenged.
Then, along came Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR redefined the role of the federal government by way of unconstitutional decrees. In effect, he substituted what Progressives call the “Living Constitution” for the authentic Constitution. As Mark Alexander wrote,” FDR used the Great Depression as cover to establish a solid foundation for Democratic Socialism in America. But Democratic Socialism, like Nationalist Socialism, is nothing more than Marxist Socialism repackaged. Likewise, it seeks a centrally planned economy directed by a dominant-party state that controls economic production by way of taxation, regulation and income redistribution. The success of Democrat Socialism depends upon supplanting Essential Liberty — the rights “endowed by our Creator” — primarily by refuting such endowment.
No matter what the current “flavor” of socialism is, it always leads to tyranny.
In his defense of Democratic Socialism, FDR said, “Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.” If that quote sounds eerily familiar, you might remember this quote by Karl Marx. “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” FDR was actually channeling his inner Marxism.
At the time, Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev said of Roosevelt’s New Deal, “We can’t expect the American people to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have communism.”
The utopian goal of Socialism has always been to replace the uncertainty of free markets with the supposed certainty of centralized government planning. But, the bottom line is this; Socialized central planning of the economy has failed miserably in every nation it has been attempted. Usually this failure is accompanied by a great deal of economic hardship, starvation and death.
In 1916, William J. H. Boetcker published a pamphlet titled, The Ten Cannots:
- You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
- You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
- You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
- You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
- You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.
- You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
- You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
- You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
- You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
- You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.
How many in the list above is Barack Obama breaking during his current re-election campaign? (I’m just sayin…)
Boetcker also wrote the “Seven National Crimes.”
- I don’t think.
- I don’t know.
- I don’t care.
- I am too busy.
- I leave well enough alone.
- I have no time to read and find out.
- I am not interested.
How many from this list are most Americans guilty of? Are the politicians in Washington counting on our continued ignorance? You had better believe it!
The fact is, despite what liberals say, the government can’t give anything to anyone without first taking it from someone else. And, as Thomas Jefferson said, “a government that is big enough to give you anything, is big enough to take it away.”
In order to hold on to power, the liberals must take from Peter and give to Paul, hoping that more “Pauls” go to the voting booth than “Peters.” If that happens in 2012, we’ll have lost our opportunity to break the cycle and we’ll continue on our way to bondage. It may already be too late for Europe. I figure the U.S. is about five years behind Europe in the cycle. The U.S. has, as of this writing about five years until the end of Barack Obama’s second term, if re-elected.
I’m just sayin…
