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 candidate
promising the most benefits from the public treasury,
with the result that a democracy always collapses over 
loose fiscal policy, and is always followed by a dictatorship. 
The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has
been 200 years.
These nations have progressed through this sequence: 
from bondage to spiritual faith;
from spiritual faith to great courage;
from courage to liberty; 
from liberty to abundance; 
from abundance to selfishness;
from selfishness to complacency; 
from complacency to apathy; 
from apathy to dependency;
from dependency back again to bondage.