Democracy to collapse over fiscal policy?

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a history professor at the University of Edinburgh stated: “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up to 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 collapse over loose fiscal policy.”

The question is: Are we about there yet?

Henry Royer

Cedar Rapids

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