Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 10:22:58 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Observations of a Law Professor Hi Joy & everyone, In 1787, it must've been hard to imagine the degree to which our society would educate itself, the extent of the improvements on Athenian democracy that the American founding fathers had just embodied in our Constitution, and the kinds of financial institutions we would evolve to prevent exactly the kind of dynamic he talks about. Our society did fall into some complacency, but I think instead of proceeding on some kind of downward spiral back into bondage, we are instead in an upward cycle of gaining increasing freedoms. In 1787 life was nasty, brutish and short. If you could travel back in time to then, the first thing you'd notice would probably be the smell. We've come a long way since then! I see us as moving from "abundance" to "complacency" sometimes, but also back to an almost painful awareness of our liberty at times, of how precious and fragile that liberty is. I think right now is one of those times of increasing awareness. There are so many people waking up and getting involved for the first time, so many people thinking about what democracy means and what America's role in the world ought to be. Fundamentally, even with human nature being what it is, I don't see any reason why we can't go from "abundance" to "sustainability." I have DEEP faith in our ability to keep figuring it out. One set of figures to keep in mind, that Professor Olson conveniently leaves out... 2000 General Election, Popular Vote Albert A. Gore, Jr. - 50,999,897 (48.4%) George W. Bush - 50,456,002 (47.87%) Regarding which states pay taxes and which states are on the government dole, Professor Olson has it exactly backwards. It's the RED states that voted for Bush in 2000 that mostly slurp up federal tax dollars that the BLUE, Gore-voting states contribute! This is a common misconception but I'm suprised to hear a law professor repeat it. California is a typical blue state: for every $1.00 Californians send to the IRS, we get back only 73 cents. Montana is a typical red state: for every buck they send to the feds, they get back $1.75! So much for rugged Montanan individualism, but maybe explains something about why Dick Cheney thinks it's OK to use Halliburton to siphon money out of the federal treasury and into his pocketbook. (if you're interested, the original Tax Foundation data and some of the analysis of it are here & here... http://taxfoundation.org/taxingspending.html http://www.soonerthought.com/archives/000366.html ) The Good Professor is trying to paint Gore voters as welfare slurping, government subsidized cadillac driving, tenement living, tax cheatin' no good low down varmints. Woah there! Like the vast majority of the other 50 million people who voted for Gore, Jen and I both work hard, and we pay our taxes so rich folks don't have to. We believe in God, we fly the flag, and we love this country and wake up every morning thinking hard about how we can best serve it. Love to all of you. Keep asking questions and feel free to forward this one along, too. If there's anything we all agree on, it's that this is one important election. Danny (Joy's rabble-rouser grandson-in-law) .............................................. Visit Heeyah! -- http://sbdems.blogspot.com/ World's 1st Democratic County Committee Weblog 805.884.1846 home 805.455.3003 cell "IN DEMOCRACY WE TRUST" Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2004 18:42:00 EDT Subject: Fwd: (no subject) At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in the year 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." "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: >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." Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul,Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the most recent Presidential election: Population of counties won by: Gore=127 million Bush=143 million Square miles of land won by: Gore=580,000 Bush=2,2427,000 States Won By Gore=19 Bush=29 Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore=13.2 Bush=2.1 Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare..." Olson believes the U.S. 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. Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake in this Election Year and that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom. "IN GOD WE TRUST"